Seoul, – Samsung Electronics posted an overall sales increase of 17.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001, hitting $6.4 billion, up from $5.5 billion sequentially in the third quarter on sales of digital television, DVD players and mobile phones.
Overall net income for the fourth quarter, however, recorded a slight sequential decrease from the third quarter, dropping to $304.8 million, down from $321.7 million.
For the 12 months, Samsung overall sales reached $24.5 billion, down from the $26 billion reported in the previous year. Net income was $2.2 billion for the 12 months, down significantly from the $4.8 billion recorded in 2000.
The company approximately divides its 2001 sales into $7.1 billion for the Digital Media division, which includes consumer electronics; $6.8 billion for the Telecommunications division and $2.3 billion for the Home Appliances division. Digital Media accounted for 29.1 percent of sales in 2001, Telecommunications 27.9 percent and Home Appliances 9.6 percent. The Semiconductors division did $6.7 billion, a 27.4 percent share.
Net income for the Telecommunications or mobile phone division reached $757 million in 2001, the highest level of net income ever reached for a single product category, said Samsung.
