SEOUL -- Amid the sluggish global semiconductor market, Samsung Electronics saw its sales and operating profit decrease in the fourth quarter of 2023. The tech giant's operating profit of about 2.8 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in 4Q 2023, down 34.4 percent from the same period a year ago.
The conglomerate announced its financial report on January 31 and said that Samsung recorded 67.78 trillion won in sales and an operating profit of 2.82 trillion won. The sales also indicate a 34.4 percent decrease year-on-year.
The company’s net profit reached about 6.3 trillion won, marking a 73.4 percent decline compared to the previous year's fourth quarter. The total annual sales in 2023 recorded 258.93 trillion won, down 14.3 percent year-on-year.
The device solutions (DS) division in charge of the semiconductor business recorded sales of 21.69 trillion won and an operating loss of 2.18 trillion won. The DS section's operating loss consistently decreased from 4.58 trillion won in the first quarter of last year to 4.36 trillion in the second quarter, and to 3.75 trillion in the third quarter.
In the memory chip business, Samsung has seen a rebound in the overall market compared to the 3Q 2023. "For the Memory Business, the overall market showed a recovery compared to the previous quarter, with content-per-box continuing to increase for PC and mobile," the company said in a statement. "Server demand showed signs of recovery as investments in generative AI expanded across the IT industry."
According to data released by market research firm Gartner, Samsung's global semiconductor revenue was $39.9 billion in 2023, down 37.5 percent from a year ago. The market research firm reported that the company secured the second position in global revenue, with the U.S. tech giant Intel leading at $48.7 billion.
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