三星警告：智能手机市场已见顶

周四，韩国科技巨头三星电子警告称，由于智能手机等设备销售疲软，2016年的利润可能低于2015年。这种趋势也给苹果公司和主要芯片制造商带来了不利影响。

此前一天，苹果预计季度销售额将出现13年来首次下滑，当日起股价下跌逾6.5%，创两年来最大跌幅。

三星披露了2015年第四季度业绩，当季营业利润为6.1万亿韩元（50.5亿美元），和该公司1月初的预期相同。当季三星收入增长1.1%，达到53.3万亿韩元，此前预测的数字为53万亿韩元。

2015年全年，三星实现营业利润26.4万亿韩元，高于2014年的25万亿韩元。

同时，三星也发布公告称：“IT需求全面下降，2016年要维持2015年的利润水平会很困难。”而且充满挑战的经营环境将延续到本季度。

当天，三星的股价下跌了1.9%，跑输大盘，当日大盘跌幅为0.5%。

随着中国经济增速放缓和新兴市场货币贬值，电视、个人电脑等电子产品销量都出现下滑，这不光是三星和苹果的问题，供应商乃至整个行业都遇到了麻烦。

部分投资者和分析师相信，由于电子产品需求不振压低内存芯片和显示器价格，2016年三星的利润将出现三年来的第二次下跌，去年三星正是靠这两项业务才顶住了移动业务利润下降带来的影响。

第四季度，三星半导体业务实现营业利润2.80万亿韩元，高于去年同期的2.70万亿韩元，而且连续第六个季度成为三星的创收冠军。

移动业务利润从去年第四季度的1.96万亿韩元升至今年的2.23万亿韩元。三星表示，推出新款智能手机后，尽管总出货量预计将下降，但今年第一季度的移动业务利润环比会略有提高。

此外，三星还表示将回购并注销2.99万亿韩元的普通股和优先股。这是三星的第二轮股票回购，也是去年披露11.3万亿韩元回购计划的一部分。

三星还决定每股发放年终股利，每股2万韩元（约110元人民币）。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

校对：夏林

Tech giant Samsung Electronics on Thursday warned of possible weaker earnings this year compared with 2015 due to softer sales of gadgets such as smartphones, a trend that is also hurting rival Apple and major chipmakers.

The South Korean firm’s warning came a day after Apple shares fell more than 6.5%, the biggest percentage drop in two years, as the iPhone maker forecast its first quarterly sales drop in 13 years.

Samsung said its October-December operating profit was 6.1 trillion won ($5.05 billion), compared with 6.1 trillion won it guided for earlier in January. Revenue rose 1.1% to 53.3 trillion won, compared with 53 trillion won it guided for.

The maker of Galaxy smartphones and tablets reported a full-year operating profit of 26.4 trillion won, compared with 25 trillion won in 2014.

“Broadly weaker IT demand will make it difficult to maintain 2016 profits at the level of the previous year’s,” Samsung said in a statement accompanying its fourth-quarter profit results, adding that “challenging business conditions” would remain for the current quarter.

Samsung shares were down 1.9% as of 0028 GMT, underperforming a 0.5% fall for the broader market

Slowing economic growth in China and weaker emerging market currencies are undercutting sales of electronics ranging from televisions to personal computers, spelling trouble for not only for Samsung and Apple aapl but for their suppliers and the broader industry.

Some investors and analysts believe Samsung will see its profit fall for the second time in three years in 2016, as slack demand for gadgets undercuts prices of memory chips and displays that Samsung leaned on to cope with its mobile profit decline last year.

The semiconductor division’s operating profit rose to 2.80 trillion won from 2.70 trillion won a year earlier, remaining the top earner for the sixth straight quarter.

The mobile division’s profit climbed to 2.23 trillion won from 1.96 trillion won a year earlier. Samsung said first-quarter mobile profits would improve slightly from October-December due to the launch of new smartphones, although overall shipments were expected to decline.

Separately, Samsung said it planned to buy back and cancel 2.99 trillion won worth of common and preferred shares, marking the second round of share purchases as part of a 11.3 trillion buyback plan announced late last year.

The firm would also pay a year-end dividend of 20,000 won per share.