Samsung profit dips on low demand

29 July 2011 Last updated at 05:27 GMT Falling demand for LCD televisions has hit profits of electronics manufacturers in Asia Samsung has become the latest electronics maker to report a drop in profits due to a weak demand for TVs.

Samsung said net profit was 3.5tn won ($3.3bn; ?2bn) in the second quarter, an 18% drop from a year earlier.

The company said its TV unit made a loss for the second successive quarter as sales of Liquid Crystal Display's (LCDs) fell 15%.

On Thursday, Sony reported a loss of $199m for the first quarter due to falling TV sales.

Analysts said weak demand for TVs would continue to hurt its profits in the short term.

"It will be difficult to boost earnings sharply in the third quarter as demand for memory chips and TVs will continue to remain depressed," said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

"Its loss-making flat-screen business will also report break-even at best," he added.

However, the company reported robust growth in its mobile phone business with a 43% surge in sales.

Profits in the telecom unit rose by 6.3% from a year earlier to 1.7tn won.

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Apple overtakes Nokia and Samsung

29 July 2011 Last updated at 11:55 GMT Handsets from Apple (left) and Samsung (right) saw the biggest growth Apple has become the world's biggest seller of smartphones, according to industry analysts.

The US firm overtook both previous leader Nokia and Samsung in the second quarter of the year, when total smartphone sales hit a record 110m.

The figures from Strategy Analytics also showed that 361m handsets were shipped, up 13% on the previous year.

Nokia remained the biggest seller of all types of handsets, but the numbers shipped and its market share fell.

It shipped 20% fewer handsets in the second quarter - 88.5 million.

The Finnish firm's market share dipped to 25% - its lowest level since 1999.

'Star'

The report describes Apple as the "star performer" during the quarter, more than doubling its handset shipments to a record 20.3 million units.

All handsets Smartphones Total market share

However, its share of the overall market was 6%, making it the world's fourth biggest mobile phone seller behind Nokia, Samsung and LG.

Samsung shipped 74 million units, rising 16% from 63.8 million in the quarter a year earlier.

The company's market share rose to just above 20%, and Samsung is now "breathing down Nokia's neck", the report said.

Strategy Analytics said Nokia was plagued by problems.

"An unexciting touchphone portfolio, inventory corrections in Asia and Western Europe, wavering demand for the Symbian platform and limited presence in the huge US market continue to weigh on Nokia's near-term performance," the report said.

Third-placed LG shipped 24.8 million handsets during the three months, with volumes down 19% from a year earlier.

China-based ZTE shipped 18 million handsets, giving it a global market share of 5%.

Seperately, Taiwan's HTC said it had shipped 12m handsets in the second quarter of the year, helping its profits double to 17.5 billion Taiwan dollars ($607m; ?372m).

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Samsung seeks US Apple sale ban

30 June 2011 Last updated at 07:01 GMT Apple and Samsung are leading players in the fast growing smartphone and tablet PC market Samsung Electronics has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking to ban the sale of key Apple products in the US.

Samsung wants to stop iPhone, iPad and iPod models being imported and sold in the US.

The two companies have been involved in a legal tussle, accusing each other of copying designs and technology.

Apple produces the best-selling smartphones and tablet PCs.

"Samsung will vigorously defend our intellectual property to protect our role as a leader and innovator in the mobile communication business in order to better serve our customers," Samsung said in a statement.

Ongoing tussle Continue reading the main story

I can't imagine that Samsung will succeed in getting Apple's products banned from being sold”

End Quote Tim Charlton Charlton Media The success of the iPhone and the iPad saw many rival companies come up with similar products in an attempt to capture a share of the fast-growing market.

Samsung electronics tasted success with the launch of its Galaxy series in the smartphone and tablet PC category.

However, earlier this year Apple sued Samsung, accusing the company of "slavishly" copying its designs.

Apple's claims focused on Galaxy's design features, such as the look of its screen icons.

Samsung said its products were the result of research and development carried out by the company.

But in an unexpected twist to the legal tussle, days later Samsung filed suits against Apple in three countries accusing its rival of infringing its patents.

Analysts said the legal wrangling was an unnecessary headache for both firms.

"I can't imagine that Samsung will get Apple's products banned from being sold," said Tim Charlton of Charlton Media.

"Similarly, it will be very difficulty for a judge to decide how a company's products should be designed," he added, explaining that Apple may not be able to dictate how Samsung's gadgets should look.

Inter-dependence

Despite the legal claims and counter claims, the two companies remain dependent on each other.

Samsung provides microchips for Apple's products and the California-based company is also key client for the Korean manufacturer, with business between the two totalling $5.7bn (?3.5bn) in 2010.

Analysts said that although the legal tussle may sour relations between the two, it was unlikely that they would stop dealing with each other.

"I think they may be pragmatic," said Mr Charlton.

"At the end of the day, Apple will end up buying microchips from the supplier who can give them the best quality at the best rates," he said.

However, given the volume of microchips that Apple buys, it is highly unlikely the company would have many alternative suppliers, he added.

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