Samsung Electronics on Thursday last week reported just enough earnings data to tease us about what might be heading our way. Second-quarter revenue and operating profit at the South Korean Goliath portend a tough second half for global technology hardware manufacturers.
Sales pipped estimates by a little, but that was mostly because analysts have been cutting their forecasts over the past two weeks in anticipation of a worsening market for Samsung’s chips, smartphones and other electronic devices.
The figure was likely boosted by a slide in the Korean won of almost 7 percent during the period. Crucially, operating profit missed by a