Samsung just reported its earnings for Q1 2014, in which the company has managed to make operating profit of 8.49 trillion won ($8.2 billion) for the quarter ended March 31st. It has reported net profit of 7.57 trillion won ($7.3 billion) and revenues of 53.68 trillion won, down by 9% from 59.28 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Even though demand for smartphones and tablets in the January to March quarter were slow, operating profit in the mobile sector increased 18% QoQ due to increase in smartphone shipments and efficient management of marketing expenditures, the company said.
Mobile phone sales accounted for 31.36 trillion won, 4% down compared to the previous quarter. Operating profits in the mobile sector were 6.43 trillion won, up by 18% compared to Q4 2013.
Samsung saw strong sales in high-end segment including Galaxy S4 and Note 3 and the latest Galaxy S5. Shipment in the mid-range segment increased mainly due to phones like Galaxy Grand 2. The company shipped nearly 13 million units, even in the lowest quarter and launched high-end lineup, including launches of the premium GALAXY Note PRO 12.2 and GALAXY Tab PRO 12″ and 8″.
Samsung expects just slight growth in handset market since the demand would not be more due to weak seasonality in second quarter as well. With the full-fledged global sales of Galaxy S5, Samsung expects Galaxy S5 to surpass sales of Galaxy S4.
Since China’s LTE market is growing rapidly, it plans to strengthen LTE product line-up across various price points. It also plans to gradually increase the wearable device business’ contribution to entire earnings.
Regarding the future of Mobile AP, it said that demand will remain weak through the second quarter, but earnings are expected to improve during the second half of the year as the company plans to seek growth momentum with solid sales of high-density CIS as well as the launch of new 20nm AP products.