Samsung will reportedly weather the huge Galaxy Note 7 faux pas, as the company is expected to still reap strong profits for the fourth quarter of the financial year, despite its recall of problematic Note 7 handsets.
Samsung Sees Q4 Unharmed
While the Note 7 debacle has undoubtedly dented Samsung's profits and potentially dampened its consumer loyalty, its Q4 results might not be sorely affected. In fact, it might just be the opposite.
According to the Korea Times, IBK Securities, and HMC Investment Securities estimate that Samsung's operating profit for the last financial quarter this year will reach KRW 8.7 trillion, or about $7.24 billion.
Kium Securities and Hyundai Securities, however, put the company's Q4 profits lower, at KRW 8.5 trillion, which is still much larger than Samsung's Q3 profits at KRW 5.2 trillion, or about $4.7 billion. Despite being embroiled in an issue involving Note 7 devices randomly exploding, which has already hurt Samsung on a lot of fronts, the South Korean electronics company might be cupped afloat by its semiconductor business, alongside sales of its displays, according to Chung Chang-won, senior analyst from Nomura Securities.
The analyst also noted that should Samsung recuperate from the aftermath of its failed flagship, its annual profit could soar up to KRW 40 trillion, or about $33.2 billion next year.
Preparing The Successor
One such product poised to fill in after Note 7's departure is the forthcoming Galaxy S8 handset, the company's rumor-laden flagship tagged with a Mobile World Congress unveiling, which happens late February 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.
Rumors suggest that the aforementioned handset could sport the recently introduced Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, with 8 GB of RAM, suggestive of the Galaxy S8 being a powerhouse mobile device — a prospect helped further by a rumored "beast mode."
The Note 7's Y-Octa display technology, a complex manufacturing process, could also be implemented for the Galaxy S8, which will result in reduced display costs and thickness. The screen, according to reports, is also expected to cover more than 90 percent of the handset's front panel, which is just a few points shy of the Xiaomi Mi Mix's.
The company also shelled out dough to acquire audio company Harman, which means that the flagship could potentially be embedded with a high-end audio system. The validity of this rumor is very thin, but surely, buying a company for $8 billion means that Samsung will at least implement the technology on its mobile business somehow.
As with all rumors churned out from the mill, take everything with a grain of salt, as is the case with the analysts' estimates.
