Stefan Mileschin

But there will be a boom in memory chips

Samsung warned the coronavirus pandemic would hurt sales of smartphones and consumer electronics this year, while demand from data centres would fuel a recovery in memory chip markets.

Chief Executive Kim Ki-nam said the coronavirus and US-China trade disputes were casting a shadow over the outlook for the South Korean tech giant.

“The global smartphone market was expected to turn to growth this year, but with virus showing signs of being prolonged, the smartphone market is contracting. But 5G smartphone demand is expected to rise”, Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile and network business, told the annual general meeting in Seoul.

While the smartphone market would shrink, Kim said the chip market - which makes up about half of Samsung’s operating profit - would see demand growth after a slump last year exacerbated by excess supply and US-China trade tensions.

Other chipmakers like Broadcom have either cut or pulled their sales outlook due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak, but global leader Samsung said it expected investments from data centre firms and new opportunities in areas such as 5G wireless networks and automobiles to drive chip sales higher in 2020.

https://fudzilla.com/news/50502-sams...consumer-sales