Three months after warning that the second half of 2014 would “remain a challenge,” Samsung announced Monday it expects a decline of nearly 60 percent in its operating profit for the third quarter of 2014, its fourth straight quarterly drop.
The South Korean electronics giant said it expects to record an operating profit of 4.1 trillion won ($3.8 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, a 59.7 percent drop from the year-ago quarter. The company also said it expects sales for the quarter to come in around 47 trillion won, a 20 percent decline.
The guidance, released before its full earnings report later this month, did not provide details of divisional earnings, but for the second quarter in a row, Samsung released “reference materials” to address concerns about the current state of the company.
Smartphone shipments, which typically account for two-thirds of the Samsung’s operating profit, increased marginally in the quarter, but margins were hurt by higher marketing costs and lower selling prices for the company’s high-end handsets, the company said, CNET informs.
