Samsung Electronics, the South Korean tech titan, reported a 23.5% year-over-year drop in net profit for the July to September quarter. The semiconductor cycle weighed on profits, with net income reaching 9.39 trillion won, roughly $6.64 million. By contrast, the Suwon-based company saw its net income fall 15.4% versus the April to June period, according to today’s release.
For the third quarter, gross operating profit, commonly known as EBITDA, stood at 28.71 trillion won, about $20.27 billion, down 7.6% from a year earlier. Operating profit declined 31.4% year over year to 10.85 trillion won, equivalent to around $7.68 billion, while turnover reached 76.78 trillion won, up 3.8% from the July–September 2021 period, about $54.31 billion. Overall, the third-quarter net profit came in modestly above some analysts’ expectations.
Within the group of semiconductor operations, the parent company saw operating profit fall 13.9% year-on-year to 23.02 trillion won, about $16.27 billion, in the third quarter. Revenue shrank by nearly half, dipping to 5.12 trillion won, roughly $3.62 billion. Samsung noted that even as customer inventory adjustments exceeded market expectations, demand for consumer electronics products that rely on the company’s own chips continued soft.
As the global memory and semiconductor markets cool, the sector faces a cautious backdrop as inflation cools slowly and interest rates stay elevated. Still, Wall Street and regional analysts have pointed to potential improvements in the fourth quarter, with major mobile phone brands forecasting higher IC sales driven by new product launches.
Looking ahead to 2023, Samsung expressed cautious optimism, signaling a potential rebound through expanded data center deployments and broader adoption of its memory products. Management highlighted that geopolitical uncertainties could temper demand in the first half of the year, though progress in DRAM-enabled computing remains a focal point.
The company also announced leadership changes at the top. Lee Jae-yong, who has long been the de facto head of the Samsung group, was officially named president of Samsung Electronics. This shift comes as the group seeks greater accountability and stability. Lee inherited the role following the passing of his father, Lee Kun-hee, who had previously led the conglomerate. After years of public scrutiny, Lee Jae-yong received a government pardon in August 2021 related to a corruption case, although he continues to oversee several Samsung subsidiaries and faces ongoing corporate governance considerations tied to a high-profile merger from 2015. These developments unfold as Samsung navigates a challenging semiconductor cycle while pursuing new avenues of growth in memory and data center infrastructure.