Samsung had been reporting some record-breaking results for the past two years but for the first time since 2011, Samsung today reported a decline in their quarterly profit compared to the previous quarter. Samsung recorded a consolidated operating profit of 8.31 trillion won, which is an 18% decline quarter-on-quarter and a net profit of 7.3 trillion won, an 11% decrease.
Samsung's revenue still hit an all-time high of 59.3 trillion won but a marginal jump from the previous high of 59.1 trillion won.
Samsung attributes the profit decline to the marketing spend and a one-time expense that also includes employee bonuses.
Samsung's IT & Mobile Communications (IM) division was understandably, the best performing business unit with an operating profit of 5.47 trillion won on a revenue of 33.89 trillion won. The mobile business contributed a whopping 32.17 trillion won.
Going forward this year, Samsung expects to be aggressive in the tablet market and we think Samsung will have to prove a thing or two when they announce their flagship smartphones – Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 later this year.