Samsung Electronics has issued earnings for its first quarter of 2015 and the story’s same as the few last: the company’s making good money but far less than before. It made around 5.9 trillion won($43.2 billion) in the first quarter this year, which represents around a 30 percent drop in profit and a 12 percent slide in sales from the same period a year ago.
Samsung electronics has been trying to get the top crown in the market with the imminent release of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge- the company’s most impressive phones in years. This is also the first time the company has released two versions of its flagship phone at the same time.
Both of them were made with glass and metal, which Samsung decided to use after previous versions which were fashioned in plastic got a barrage of criticism for being an unattractive and low cost product. If the S6 duo can outperform it’s disappointing preprocessor the Galaxy S5, it could help turn Samsung’s sales slump around.
As companies like Xiaomi ascend, sales of Samsung’s smartphones have suffered, especially in India and China. Xiaomi in China and Micromax in India have already pushed Samsung down from the top spot In its 4Q2014 earnings report, the company disclosed that mobile sales accounted for just 58 percent of Samsung’s total operating profit last year, a substantial decline from 70 percent in 2013.
Samsung may also go defensive this quarter as it tries to shore up its smartphone business. Samsung took the unusual step yesterday of responding to a YouTube video by extended-warranty provider SquareTrade criticizing the durability of its phones by issuing its own video, as well as a detailed defense.Furthermore, Samsung Electronics also held a press briefing about its 1Q2015 earnings guidance last week. During the briefing, Samsung Future Strategy office chief communications officer Lee Joon said –
There have been a lot of reports about earnings forecasts for Samsung Electronics. It’s fair to say that we will report improved profits during the January-March period.
