Samsung had some rather suboptimal financial results over the last year, and the current earning calls for 2019's third quarter show this isn't quite changing. Profits fell sharply compared to the same time frame last year, but at least smartphone sales raked in some profit thanks to the Galaxy Note10 and A series.

Samsung's Q3 earnings of about 7.8 trillion Korean won (~$6.6 billion) are less than half of last year's KRW 17.5 trillion (~$15 billion). The company pins this loss to a persistent weakness in the memory chip market, which has the whole industry in deadlock since the end of 2018. Sinking margins in the TV business are another problem, as Samsung tries to undercut the competition's increasingly low prices. It managed to sell more expensive QLED panels and ultra-large television sets, though.

The mobile business is looking better. The company reports strong sales for the Galaxy Note10 and A series, and hopes that the launch of the Galaxy Fold gave it at least some positive publicity after the initial disaster that unfolded in the hands of testers. It's great to see this turnaround, as the mobile division has been struggling over the last year. The network division also reported higher year-over-year earnings thanks to 5G deployment in Korea.

The same is true for mobile display panel sales, which have increased due to high demand for OLED screens and reduced costs in production. The large display division ended up with losses, though.

CE (Consumer Electronics), IM (IT & Mobile Communications), DP (Display Panel), DS (Device Solutions).

While this is still one of Samsung's weaker quarters, the company managed to increase its profits compared to Q2 this year when it only reached a profit of KRW 6.6 trillion (~$5.6 billion). The Korean conglomerate expects that it can continue this trend in 2020. It hopes that the memory business will have recovered by then, and the sales of 5G products and foldable devices should continue to grow.

Source: Samsung