Samsung to draw line under lacklustre 2019 with chip revival in store

With Samsung Electronics expected to suffer its biggest annual profit drop in at least a decade, investors are counting on an expected uptick in the memory-chip market to cure the tech giant’s ills this year.
When it issues preliminary fourth-quarter results on Jan. 8, the world’s top maker of memory chips used in smartphones, laptops and servers is set to post a 40% slump in operating profit to 6.48 trillion won ($5.56 billion), according to Refinitiv SmartEstimate, weighted towards more consistently accurate analysts.
The three months ended December are expected to mark the South Korean firm’s fifth year-on-year decline in quarterly profit, ending a year marred by bloated stockpiles of chips that squeezed prices, and the U.S.-China trade war that roiled global supply chains and prospects for consumer demand.
With 2018 having been a record year for earnings, last year’s slump likely means Samsung posted its biggest percentage drop in annual profit in at least a decade.