Samsung Electronics expected to report the highest operating profit in the world

Samsung Electronics’ Q2 operating profit is projected surpass that of Apple. In fact, it’ll be more in line with Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google’s operating profits put together.

Samsung’s history is arguably quite impressive: what started out as a small trading company during the Japanese occupation of Korea quickly rose to become one of the world’s largest corporations. Samsung Group now boasts 80 or so affiliates, ranging from the most famous Samsung Electronics to Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Engineering, and Samsung Everland, a gargantuan amusement park in South Korea. Samsung Electronics, in particular, has seen rapid growth since the 90s, and according to industry analysts, it’s about to post yet another record-breaking operating profit.

The report comes from ET News, a South Korean online newspaper, which claims that Samsung Electronics is projected to report $11.6 billion in operating profit for the second quarter of 2017, making it another record-breaker and the highest in the world:

Consensus (average of estimations made by stock firms) of Samsung Electronics’ second quarter operating profit is $11.6 billion (13.1187 trillion KRW). Because estimation of its performance is continuing to rise as second quarter is about to finish, there is a higher possibility that its final operating profit will be higher than current estimations.

It adds that there are quite a number of firms who expect the number to be higher than $12.3 billion.

To put it in perspective, Samsung Electronics’ biggest rival, Apple, is estimated to have made $10.55 during the same quarter; in fact, Samsung’s $11.6 to $12.3 billion figure is said to be similar to the operating profits of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google combined. The total operating profits from these four companies during Q1 was around $11.15 billion. Other large corporations like Exxon Mobil and Walmart are unlikely to pass the $10 billion mark, the report claims.

Samsung’s projected record-breaking figure comes mainly from its semiconductor business: more than half of the profit is expected to be attributable to its successful supplies of DRAMs and NAND memories, all of which have been increasing in price. Not only that, demand for small- and medium-sized OLED panels, an area where Samsung has a near monopoly, is stronger than ever. However, because Samsung’s smartphone business isn’t as big of a factor in determining profits as Apple’s, when the American tech company launches a new set of iPhones this autumn, the numbers might shift for Q3.

Do you think Samsung’s upcoming Note phablet could do well enough to help the company maintain its position? Let us know by leaving a comment below.