Samsung Electronics said its third-quarter operating profit is expected to increase almost 28 per cent from a year ago, its highest in three years, driven by the sale of its new foldable smartphones and surging memory chip prices and demand.
The world's biggest smartphone and memory chip maker reported an operating income of 15.8 trillion Korean won ($13.3 billion) in the three months to September 30, according to the company's preliminary results.
It is lower than the Refinitiv SmartEstimate of 16.1tn won but the highest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2018 when Samsung posted a profit of more than 17.5tn won.
The company’s sales during the July-September period jumped more than 9 per cent on an annualised basis to 73tn won.
Samsung, South Korea's largest company, did not reveal its net income or details on the performance of its different divisions in its preliminary results.
Industry analysts said Samsung partially benefitted from the pent-up demand for semiconductors or memory chips in the third quarter. They accounted for nearly half of the company's operating profit in the first half of the year.
“Both revenue and operating profit [are] lower than our estimate, and market estimate,” SK Kim, executive director and senior analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets, told CNBC.
Samsung’s smartphone business was moderately affected by the global supply chain disruptions but increasing semiconductor prices are expected to boost the company’s components business, he added.
Surging semiconductor prices and sales can raise the company's chip division's operating profit in the third quarter by nearly 80 per cent yearly, according to analysts’ estimates
The company’s stock closed down 0.14 per cent to 71,500 won on Friday after surging as high as 72,400 won earlier in the day. The company is expected to announce its detailed earnings on October 28.
Samsung's chip contract manufacturing business, also known as foundry business, is expecting a huge boost in the coming months.
The company aims to start producing 3-nanometre chip designs in the first half of 2022 as it wrestles with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to enhance its market share. The new design will allow up to 35 per cent decrease in area, 30 per cent higher performance or 50 per cent lower power consumption compared to the 5nm designs, the company said.
“We will increase our overall production capacity and lead the most advanced technologies,” Samsung’s president and head of foundry business Siyoung Choi said at the company’s fifth annual Samsung Foundry Forum on Thursday.
“Amid further digitalisation prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, our customers and partners will discover the limitless potential … delivering the right technology at the right time,” he added.
The company said its 2nm design is in the early stages of development with mass production expected in 2025.
Samsung, which unveiled two 5G-enabled foldable smartphones under its premium Galaxy series in August, is also pinning high hopes on its foldable technology.
Foldable smartphone shipments are expected to surge nearly three times on an annual basis to about 9 million units this year, with Samsung holding 88 per cent of the market share of the high-end devices, according to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research.
Overall smartphone shipments are forecast to reach 1.38 billion units this year, up 7.7 per cent over 2020, the International Data Corporation reported.
With a yearly increase of 9.3 per cent in smartphone shipments, Samsung maintained its top position with 18.8 per cent market share in the second quarter, selling 59 million smartphones in three months, found IDC.
Chinese brand Xiaomi, which sold 53.1 million smartphones, occupied the second position with 16.9 per cent share of the global smartphone industry.
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
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- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
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- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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