If you thought the pain was over for the tech sector after a chastening 2022, then think again.
Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) poured a bucket of cold water over that idea earlier on Friday as it sounded the earnings alarm.
Its profit warning will send tremors across the market, though the execs at Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), in particular, will be looking at figures with a fidgety nervousness if they aren’t already aware of what’s to come.
Earlier Samsung reported that its operating profit plummeted almost 69% to around £2.9bn in the fourth quarter to an eight-year low, according to preliminary figures, amid a slowing global economy that crushed demand for semiconductors and electronics.
The South Korean company, the largest producer of memory chips, smartphones, and TVs, said that customers were clearing their inventories and that the fall in demand for its chips and their price drop was larger than expected.
Samsung also reported that consumer interest in its handsets had waned, with smartphone sales and revenue decreasing due to "weak demand resulting from prolonged macro issues".