A record year for the Korean chaebol
Samsung’s Q4 2017 results are in, and unsurprisingly the Korean conglomerate managed to pull in very good numbers. Scratch that, make that great – according to the company, they managed to pull in $14 billion operating profit for the 4Q 2017, and $50 billion in total for 2017, thanks mostly to its display and chip business. Compared to Q4 2016’s $8 billion operating profit, this year’s number looks absolutely insane, but take note (heh) that last year’s results were tainted somewhat by the company’s Note 7 fiasco.
While Samsung is known for their mobile devices, it’s now the largest chipmaker in the world by revenue, overtaking previous title holder Intel, as the Korean company bagged $69 billion in chip sales for the year. In comparison, Intel only bagged $63 billion. Apple also helped Samsung to achieve their record revenue numbers somewhat, since the company’s exclusive orders of the iPhone X’s OLED displays also contributed to the company’s bottom line.
Samsung’s mobile arm wasn’t the company’s top earner unfortunately, with the division getting hit by high marketing costs during the holiday season. Their total smartphone shipments decreased, “due to the lineup optimization of low-end models” and they were unable to beat last year’s numbers, declining to just $2.25 billion in Q4 2017 from $2.3 billion in Q4 2016.
