Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Samsung Electronics broke both its quarterly and annual records for revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021, making 13.87 trillion won (~$11.5 billion) in operating profit off 76.57 trillion won (~$63.6 billion) in revenue in the three-month period. The full-year numbers were 51.63 trillion won ($42.9 billion) in operating profit and 279.6 trillion won (~$232.4 billion) in revenue.
Samsung attributes the 24-percent year-on-year revenue growth to increased sales of consumer products like premium smartphones, TVs, and appliances. The more profitable semiconductor business drove operating profit growth of 52 percent year on year, despite supply chain issues limiting production of RAM and flash storage.
Looking to 2022, Samsung expects further growth in its mobile business with new flagship phones, tablets, and wearables, as well as more mainstream 5G devices. The display business also expects to see growth, partly driven by selling foldable panels to more manufacturers. Samsung says its recent expansion into quantum-dot OLED TV panels will somewhat mitigate its recent losses in large panels. Sony announced the world’s first QD-OLED TV, which uses a Samsung panel, last month.
This week Samsung confirmed a February 9th Unpacked event, where it’s set to announce the much-leaked Galaxy S22 smartphone series. TM Roh, head of the company’s mobile business, has hinted that the new phones will take on functionality from the Galaxy Note line, which may have seen its last model. Samsung says that the COVID pandemic and global supply shortage are likely to pose challenges throughout 2022, but expects to expand sales of flagship devices like the upcoming Galaxy S and recently released Galaxy S21 FE.