We start with a three-month period to forget for South Korea's biggest tech giant despite a weak domestic currency and a turnaround in displays.
THAT SAID,... Samsung Electronics' operating earnings for the second quarter WERE better than expected.
For more on this, our reporter Kim Da-mi is on the line.
Dami, tell us more.
Hi Mark, despite global uncertainties like U.S.-China trade dispute, Samsung Electronics, like you said, did better than market analysts expected, although it suffered a sizable on-year drop in profits.
Samsung said on Friday that its operating profit in the April to June period was estimated at around 5-point-6 billion U.S. dollars.
That's around a 56-point-three percent drop from a year ago, but it's up four percent from the previous quarter.
The same applies for its overall sales too.
Its sales fell more than 4 percent on-year to around 48 billion dollars.
However, that's an almost seven percent increase on-quarter.
It sounds like a mixed bag, but its overall performance in the first half of 2019 is a mere 40 percent of the figures it posted during the same period last year.
As expected, it was again the global uncertainties like the U.S.-China trade war that led to poor performance....
Right, falling global demand for memory chips on weakening demand from China and falling DRAM prices really hit the company's bottom line.
Specifically, DRAM and NAND flash chips, which account for more than two-thirds of Samsung's sales really dragged down profits.
The firm predicted its earnings to recover in the second half, but market analysts expect the memory chip business to remain on a downward trend.
And now you might wonder if Japan's unprecedented restriction of exports of high-tech materials to South Korea will affect the country's tech giant.
Considering it will take around 90 days for companies to apply for individual licenses to export materials including semiconductors,...the trade dispute between the two countries will not influence the Samsung Electronics' performance for the time being, but it might be reflected later.
But again, considering the weight of the dispute, market analysts and South Korea's other tech giants are keeping a close eye on the matter.
Full earnings data for each of Samsung's divisions is due to be released later this month.
That's all from me, Mark.
