To put things into perspective, Samsung reportedly sold ten million foldable smartphones last year, including about eight million Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3. In contrast, the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 10 series sold 12 million and 14 million units in total, respectively. Earlier reports have suggested that the company is aiming to double the sales of its 2022 foldables. So it appears to be targeting a sales volume of about 15 million units for the Fold 4 and Flip 4 combined. Samsung revealed its immediate target for foldable sales in its Q2 2022 earnings report earlier today. “The MX Business [smartphones] expects to post solid profitability with foldable products becoming mainstream as the Company targets foldable sales to surpass that of the Galaxy Note series,” the Korean behemoth said. It reported a year-on-year (YoY) decline in profits from the MX business this past quarter despite revenue growth. According to Samsung, increased costs of materials and logistics reduced its profitability from smartphones. Sluggish market demand due to concerns over inflation also affected profitability. Solid sales of the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy Tab S8 series flagships enabled it to post healthy revenue, though. Overall, Samsung reported consolidated revenue of KRW 77.2 trillion (approx. $59.3 billion), a record for the second quarter. Its operating profit also increased 12 percent from last year to reach KRW 14.1 trillion (~$10.8 billion). That’s the firm’s highest Q2 profit since 2018.
Samsung had a strong Q2 financial thanks to semiconductors
Samsung’s Q2 2022 financial report suggests it was largely unaffected by the global slowdown in smartphone sales. And that’s true to a large extent. Much of the company’s profits this past quarter came from the semiconductor division. The Korean firm is the world’s largest vendor of memory chips and the business saw increased YoY and QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) earnings in the second quarter of this year. Overall, the DS (Device Solutions) division, which includes the semiconductor business, reported an all-time high quarterly revenue of KRW 28.5 trillion. The operating profit of KRW 9.98 trillion also indicates a healthy profit margin in this business division. Samsung plans to focus on expanding its advanced semiconductor nodes (it recently began 3nm mass production) in the second half of the year. The company is expected to make 3nm smartphone processors next year.
