It was a good year for Samsung Electronics in 2018 with its sales hitting an all-time high.<br />But it wasn't all good news, because its fourth quarter earnings dropped sharply. <br />Kim Ji-yeon explains. <br />Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics says its sales and operating profits both hit a yearly all-time high in 2018 due to a semiconductor boom that lasted until the third quarter last year... but forecasts weaker earnings for this year on slowing chip demand.<br />On Thursday, the company said its combined sales for 2018 amounted to 219-point-3 billion U.S. dollars... some 2 billion dollars more than its preliminary estimate released earlier in January.<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 expected overall annual earnings to decline this year, although sales of memory products and OLED panels is expected to pickup in the second half.<br />Its memory and processor chips account for more than 70-percent of overall profit.<br />The general consensus among local market watchers backs up Samsung's projections that it may be able to rebound in the latter half of the year thanks to seasonal factors.<br />But analysts also say 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 />Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. <br />
