Most rival smartphones shutter at the thought of a brand new iPhone being released. To them, it means that sales of their own flagship phones will plummet as attention shifts to Apple. While the three brand new iPhones Apple is set to release this year will undoubtedly have an impact on Samsung’s smartphone sales as well, the company undoubtedly isn’t worried. Why? Because Apple’s success is now Samsung’s success, and business is booming.
Samsung on Friday released its unaudited profit and revenue figures for the second quarter. Both set new quarterly records. When Samsung finalizes its second-quarter earnings at the end of July, the company expects to announce more than $12.1 billion in operating profit on a whopping $52 billion in sales.
The release of Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ undoubtedly contributed to Samsung’s success in the June quarter, but they weren’t the real story. Instead, analysts believe that huge growth in Samsung’s semiconductor and display panel businesses. Samsung won’t break down performance among divisions until it reports its audited results at the end of July, but a huge spike in demand for DRAM and NAND flash storage chips is believed to be responsible for the lion’s share of Samsung’s Q2 profit.
Moving into the third quarter, Samsung is poised to see continued growth. Apple remains one of Samsung’s biggest customers and as production ramps up ahead of the iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, and iPhone 7s Plus launches, Samsung stands to benefit tremendously. Beyond the chips Samsung already supplies for Apple’s iPhones, the company will also reportedly produce 100% of the OLED displays Apple is using in its completely redesigned iPhone 8.
Despite unaudited results that beat analysts’ consensus and a bright outlook for the third quarter, Samsung shares slid nearly half a point to 2,393,000 won during Friday’s session.
