Samsung set the record sheets alight in Q3 with record profits and while the results for Q4 2013 are still very good, it’s the first quarter in a couple of years that the year on year profits have declined.
The Korean tech giant estimates that it’s operating profit dropped to about 8.3 trillion won ($7.8 billion) in the fourth quarter, or lower than both the 8.84 trillion won ($8.3 billion) from one year ago and the 10.16 trillion won ($9.6 billion) from Q3.
Samsung didn’t comment as to what triggered the decline, but it seems to corroborate reports that the massive growth in smartphones is slowing steadily. This is also indicative of the fact that many companies are now looking beyond smartphones to generate profits, like with wearables.
It’s not exactly crisis time at Samsung – the company generates more operating profit in a quarter than any of its Android rivals do in total revenue. But with investors looking on, there might be a couple of beads of sweat forming in the brow of execs.
