According to South Korean media reports, analysts said Monday that Samsung Electronics's fourth quarter performance is expected to decline from the same period last year due to the slowdown in chip business growth.

Local analysts in South Korea expect the operating profit of Samsung Electronics, the Korean technology giant, to be 13.9 trillion won by the end of December, down 7.6% from 15.1 trillion won in the same period last year. Samsung Electronics's operating profit in the third quarter was 17.57 trillion won.
Analysts added that sales were estimated at 63.8 trillion won, down 3.2% annually. Last quarter's sales were 65.46 trillion won. Samsung is expected to release its preliminary fourth quarter earnings data in early January.

Samsung's overall revenue was driven by strong sales of memory products and OLED panels in the third quarter, with operating profit hitting a record high in the quarter, but the fourth quarter is not expected to sustain the same performance.

As global prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory fell, analysts were not optimistic about Samsung's revenue outlook for the fourth quarter. If analysts expected, Samsung's quarterly operating profit fell below 14 trillion won for the first time since its first quarter operating profit of 9.9 trillion won in 2017.

Other uncertainties facing Samsung include the Sino-US trade war, the rapid changes in the international financial market and China's large-scale investment in the semiconductor industry.
However, overall in 2018, Samsung Electronics is expected to achieve a record operating profit of 62.6 trillion won, breaking last year's record of 53.6 trillion won.

As the industry slows down, SEMI predicts that Korean Semiconductor's capital expenditure will decrease by 34.7% compared with this year. According to the latest report, the capital expenditure of memory chip manufacturers is expected to fall by 19% next year, instead of the 3% increase previously forecast. DRAM is expected to decline 23%, NAND flash is expected to decline 13%. Samsung Electronics may reduce its investment in Pingze's P1 and P2 facilities and Huacheng's S3.