Seoul, South Korea – The Telecommunication Networks division at Samsung Electronics, which makes mobile phones as well as network hardware, led the company sales charge in 2002, notching a 37 percent dollar gain for the 12 months, to $10.6 billion.
In the same period, the telecommunication segment earned $2.6 billion.
In contrast, Samsung’s Digital Media division, which makes consumer electronics and computers, rang up $8.5 billion in sales during 2002. Earnings for this division over 12 months, at $330.1 million, were far less than mobile phones.
In the fourth quarter, sales for telecommunications hit $2.9 billion, with operating income of $599.9 million. In the CE segment, sales reached $2.1 billion, but the division posted an operating loss of $25.7 million.
Overall annual sales at Samsung Electronics climbed 25 percent, to $34.7 billion, compared with $27.7 billion in 2001. Net income for the 12 months was reported at $6 billion, up from $5.1 billion the previous year. Samsung forecasts revenue of $35.2 billion in the full-year 2003.
In the fourth quarter, overall Samsung sales hit $9.2 billion, up from $7.3 billion in the year-ago period.
Net income for the three months reached $1.3 billion, compared with $345.4 million in the same quarter in 2001.
However, profit was below the $1.5 billion registered in the third quarter, while sales were up from $8.5 billion in the third three months. Samsung said profit in the three months was affected by a $321.4 million bonus payment.
The company also noted a 33 percent increase in Selling, General and Administrative expenses from the third quarter, to $1.7 billion.
Samsung plans $5.1 billion in capital spending in 2003, up 43 percent from the $3.6 billion spent in 2002. In the telecommunications division, the company plans to spend $257.1 million this year.
Samsung shipped about 11.6 million handsets in the fourth quarter, and plans to ship about 13 million in the first quarter of 2003.
