Samsung’s Quarterly Profit Falls 56%

It wasn’t a day of celebration for Samsung after it reported financial results this week for the three months ending in September.

The company announced that its quarterly profit fell 56% from a year ago. Despite the drop, the number was an increase of almost 18% from the previous quarter and beat the company’s own guidance from earlier this month.

Looking ahead, Samsung said it expects “demand for components to turn sluggish in general amid weak seasonal effects, while marketing expenses are likely to increase to address year-end smartphone sales” in the fourth quarter.

In a challenging environment for chipmakers, Samsung Electronics on Thursday.

This is the fourth consecutive quarter where Samsung’s operating profit fell year-on-year.

For the quarter, Samsung reported operating profit of 7.78 trillion Korean won ($6.7 billion) vs. 17.57 trillion won a year ago. Net profit of 6.29 trillion Korean won was compared to 13.15 trillion won a year ago. Consolidated sales of 62 trillion Korean won was compared to 65.46 trillion won a year ago. Basic earnings per share was 899 Korean won compared to 1,909 won from a year ago.

Samsung additionally said that it expects memory chip demand to rise “slightly quarter-on-quarter on the back of inventory building by customers in response to global macroeconomic uncertainties.″

For 2020, Samsung said it predicted “solid” demand in the memory business but warned against lingering uncertainties in the external environment. The company has also projected growing sales for 5G products and foldable devices next year.