Foldable smartphones, TVs, home appliances lift Samsung's fourth quarter revenue in 2021

Sales of the premium smartphone including foldable phones, as well as TVs and home appliances have catapulted the revenue of Samsung Electronics in 2021 at 280 trillion Won and the operating profit also surged by 43.5% to 51.63 trillion won, the company said in a statement.  

During the 4th quarter of 2021, the company posted a turnover of 76.6 trillion Won and operating profit of 13.9 trillion Won, which is an increase of 24% and 53.3%, respectively vis-a-vis the corresponding period last year.

Interestingly, amid the growing demand, the semiconductor business has also posted consolidated revenue of 26.01 trillion won. The company claimed that its earnings at the Memory Business division decreased from the previous quarter as prices fell to a certain extent and bit growth (the amount of memory produced) came in below its guidance.  

Samsung, in a regulatory filing,  maintained that the overall demand in the Memory Business, centred on the server, was solid but earnings declined quarter-on-quarter due to a continuation of global supply chain disruption and a slight drop in the Average Selling Price (ASP).

“Considering the inventory levels and the market outlook, Samsung refrained from pushing aggressively to expand sales and, as a result, came in below initial bit growth guidance. However, the company continued to strengthen competitiveness by increasing its cutting-edge portion of processes,” Samsung said in its regulatory filing.

Samsung has also revealed that the fourth-quarter revenue growth was driven mainly by the finished product businesses, with expanded sales of premium smartphones, including foldable phones, as well as TVs and home appliances. It also maintained that the operating profit declined from the previous quarter due to a special bonus payment to employees, but rose from a year earlier, driven by the semiconductor businesses.