Samsung Electronics has projected a year-on-year decline in the global smartphone market for the second half of 2025, citing macroeconomic uncertainty stemming from U.S. tariff policies.
The company’s Corporate Mobile eXperience Vice President, Daniel Araujo, made this known in Samsung’s First Quarter 2025 earnings report released on Wednesday.
During an earnings call, Araujo said that potential adjustments could be made to the company’s Q2 outlook due to the evolving impact of global trade and tariff dynamics. He also noted that smartphone shipments may decline as the initial sales boost from its recent flagship models fades.
While the tablet market is also expected to grow more slowly, Araujo said demand for premium devices remains strong.
Samsung’s Q1 consolidated revenue reached a record KRW 79.14 trillion (₦89.20 trillion), with an operating profit of KRW 6.7 trillion (₦7.5 trillion), despite challenges within its Device Solutions (DS) Division.
The DS division posted KRW 25.1 trillion (₦28.2 trillion) in revenue and KRW 1.1 trillion (₦1.2 trillion) in operating profit, buoyed by stronger server DRAM and NAND sales. However, overall earnings were pressured by lower average selling prices and a decline in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) sales.
Samsung reported a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in research and development expenditure, amounting to KRW 9 trillion (₦10.1 trillion), underscoring its continued investment in innovation.
Despite prevailing economic headwinds, the company expressed optimism that performance would improve in the latter half of the year. Growth in its semiconductor business is expected to be fuelled by rising demand for AI servers and high-value memory products.
Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX) division recorded strong sales of the Galaxy S25 series in Q1, while Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) posted KRW 5.9 trillion (₦6.65 trillion) in revenue and KRW 0.5 trillion (₦563.9 billion) in profit.
Its Visual Display and Digital Appliances segments reported combined revenue of KRW 14.5 trillion (₦16.4 trillion) and KRW 0.3 trillion (₦338.4 billion) in operating profit.
Looking ahead to Q2, the MX division plans to expand its foldable smartphone portfolio with AI-enhanced features and introduce new ecosystem products focused on AI and health tech. It also aims to explore emerging product categories such as extended reality (XR).
(NAN)