Samsung sees memory recovery next year after profit beat

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Samsung Electronics Co. beat profit expectations in the third quarter and predicted a recovery in the semiconductor market next year. 

The world's largest maker of memory chips and smartphones said on Tuesday that net income fell 40% to 5.5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in the September quarter, compared with analyst estimates of 2.52 trillion won, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's an improvement from the 86% decline a quarter earlier. 

Samsung's pivotal chip division posted a 3.75 trillion won operating loss, compared with a 4.4 trillion won loss in the previous quarter. Three analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated a loss of between 3.6 trillion won and 3.8 trillion won. The company's mobile panel business also had a “significant increase” in earnings with the flagship model releases from major customers, perhaps including Apple Inc.'s iPhone 15.

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The $160 billion memory chip market has been battered by a downturn in demand for smartphones and personal computers, the most important products that incorporate the semiconductors from Samsung and rival SK Hynix Inc. Prices for memory chips tumbled, and most chipmakers pulled back on investments in new capacity. Investors have been desperate for signs of a recovery.

When Samsung reported preliminary results earlier this month, its revenue slid 13% in the quarter and operating income dropped 78%, but the profit decline was more modest than the previous quarter and its stock rallied. Then Intel Corp. predicted a return to sales growth in the fourth quarter, in part because of improving personal computer demand and its stock surged the most in nearly three years.

Samsung predicted that memory chip prices will rise in the fourth