Our top story this morning...<br />The world's biggest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, has released its final earnings report for 2018.<br />For the year as a whole, sales soared to an all-time high.<br />But earnings in the fourth quarter dropped sharply, mainly due to sluggish demand in the memory chip business... and growing competition in the smartphone sector.<br />For more, we have Kim Ji-yeon on the phone.<br />Ji-yeon, compared to the preliminary estimates, no huge surprises today, right?<br /><br />No, in fact I'd reported earlier this month that for Samsung, 2018 could be summed up as bittersweet... and today's earnings report confirms that.<br />Sales and operating profits both hit a yearly all-time high in 2018 due to a semiconductor boom that lasted until the third quarter.<br />The company's combined sales for 2018 amounted to 219-point-3 billion U.S. dollars... some 2 billion dollars more than its preliminary estimate released earlier this month.<br />Operating profits for 2018 amounted to nearly 53 billion dollars,... which is zero-point-6-billion dollars less than its earlier estimate... but is still a record-high.<br />Its operating profits in the fourth quarter of last year were similar to the preliminary estimate of 9-point-7 billion dollars... which is a 28-point-7 percent drop from the previous year.<br />Sales during the October-to-December period last year were slightly up from the previous estimate at 53-point-3 billion dollars,... a 10-point-2-percent drop on-year.<br />Samsung said the disappointing Q4 earnings are mainly due to global chipmakers adjusting their inventories and its main clients cutting their orders.<br />The company says it expects to recover in the second quarter,... particularly in its chip business, and with an expansion of its premium products including OLED displays.<br />But some analysts like the one I talked to earlier this month predicted the worst may be yet to come for Samsung... and that a dramatic uptick in the company's earnings is unlikely since semiconductor prices are expected to drop further this year... in response to growing signs of a slowdown in the global economy... and rising uncertainties in trade.<br />The general consensus among local market watchers is that Samsung may be able to rebound in the latter half of the year thanks to seasonal factors.<br />Mark?<br /><br />Thank you Ji-yeon for that report. <br />
