But the figures were below market expectations according to
Bloomberg News, and the company warned of persisting uncertainties over the
pandemic, and lower profits in Q1 2021 due to falling prices.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of the giant
Samsung group, by far the largest of the family-controlled empires known as
chaebols that dominate business in South Korea, the world's 12th-largest
economy.
The conglomerate is crucial to the South's economic health
-- its overall turnover is equivalent to a fifth of the national gross domestic
product.
Samsung Electronics said profits rose 26.4 percent in
October to December on a year earlier to KRW 6.61 trillion led by display and
memory chip businesses.
"Although challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic
continue, company-wide efforts to ensure a stable supply of products and
services globally helped Samsung's fourth-quarter results," the firm said
in an earnings report.
The coronavirus has wreaked havoc with the world economy, with
lockdowns and travel bans imposed around the globe for many months.
But the pandemic - which has killed more than two million
people worldwide - has also seen many tech companies boom, including Samsung.
"It's true that Samsung's sales increased year-on-year
due to the spread of the so-called 'new normal', which led to a surge in demand
for electronics," said Jene Park, an analyst at market observer
Counterpoint Research.
Operating profit rose 26.4 percent to KRW 9.05 trillion,
while sales were also up 2.8 percent at KRW 61.55 trillion.
Even so, Samsung noted that profits fell from the previous
quarter due to weaker memory prices and sluggish consumer product sales, as
well as higher marketing costs and appreciation by the Korean won.
The trend was likely to continue, it said, with
profitability in the memory business affected by won strength "and costs
associated with new production lines, despite solid demand from mobile products
and data centres".
It expected a recovery in overall global demand in 2021, but
warned that "uncertainties persist over the possibility of recurring
COVID-19 waves".
For the full year, net profit jumped 21.5 percent to KRW
26.41 trillion, on sales of KRW 236.81 trillion, up 2.8 percent.
Samsung Electronics shares were down 1.64 percent in early
trade Thursday.
Jailed boss
The global chip-manufacturing industry is expected to see
record revenue this year, with the stay-at-home economy persisting because of
the pandemic, according to Taipei-based market tracker TrendForce.
Samsung has aggressively stepped up its investments in
semiconductors in recent years.
As its latest investment, the tech giant is considering
spending as much as $17 billion to build a chip plant in Arizona, Texas or New
York, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
If confirmed, it would be the biggest investment by Samsung
in the absence of its de facto leader Lee Jae-yong.
Lee was sentenced last week to two and a half years in jail
in a retrial over a sprawling corruption scandal that brought down former
president Park Geun-hye.
That ruling cast further uncertainty over Samsung after the
burial of late chairman Lee Kun-hee, who turned Samsung Electronics into a
global powerhouse, in October.
Experts say a leadership vacuum could hamper the firm's
decision-making on future large-scale investments, which have been key to its
rise.
Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University, said:
"Samsung is a very important company for South Korea and the imprisonment
of its leader is disadvantageous."