Samsung had a really rough 2016 especially with the two times recall of Galaxy Note 7 that repeatedly caught fire. As the dust settled, Samsung downgraded its 2016 profit outlook from $7b to 5.2 trillion won ($4.63 billion) and it was expected seeing as it wasn’t going to be selling its phone at a time when Apple launched its iPhone 7 and Google launched Pixel.
But its fourth quarter profit was up 50 percent from a year earlier to its highest level in three years. It reported an operating profit of 9.2tr Won ($7.8b) versus 8.2 trillion won estimate and while analysts believe the depreciation in the South Korean currency may have contributed to this but nevertheless this comes a relief to investors even as rumours of a new Samsung Galaxy Note are all over the place. The profit is based on a strong sale of other Samsung products like the S7 and Galaxy Note as Samsung retained the top spot as the leading manufacturer of smartphones in 2016 with Apple coming in at a distant second place.
Samsung is known to operate in secrecy which analysts believe is one of the problems facing the company and if you’re asking why we don’t have a detailed report from the electronics maker, it’s because of secrecy but as par what they put out there, they made a profit. Samsung also makes TVs, household gadgets among others.
