Samsung on Tuesday morning reported its unaudited earnings results for the fourth quarter of 2013, missing analysts’ estimates and raising concerns about the coming year as high-end smartphone sales growth continues to slow. Samsung said that its fourth-quarter operating profit will likely come in at around 8.3 trillion won, or $7.8 billion, which represents a 6% decline compared to the same quarter in 2012.
The holiday quarter is typically the biggest quarter of the year for consumer electronics giants thanks to the holiday shopping season, however Samsung’s profit actually declined a troubling 18% compared to the third quarter last year. Samsung said that bonuses paid out in the fourth quarter related to the company’s new management strategy totaled nearly $1 billion, which had a huge impact on Samsung’s earnings.
The company reported sales last quarter that totaled an estimated 59 trillion won, or about $55.2 billion, down from $55.6 billion in the third quarter last year.
Samsung shares closed down less than 1% on Tuesday at 1,304,000 won.
