• Samsung Electronics Co. has reported its sixth consecutive quarter of declining operating profit, signaling weak consumer demand and raising uncertainties about the broader tech recovery's timing. The South Korean giant revealed a 35% drop in operating income to 2.8 trillion won ($2.1 billion), falling approximately 24% short of estimates, with revenue also sliding more than anticipated to 67 trillion won. This marks Samsung's slimmest operating profit in 15 years for the entirety of 2023, highlighting the ongoing sluggishness in demand for smartphones and memory chips amid economic uncertainty.

• The results reveal a slower-than-expected rebound, indicating that prices are not rising rapidly, and demand from certain sectors remains weak. Despite Samsung's prediction in October that the long-depressed $160 billion memory market would gradually recover in 2024, driven by AI development, the company's shares fell 2.4% in Seoul on Tuesday. Challenges include a low utilization rate in its foundry chipmaking business, fierce competition, higher marketing costs in the consumer electronics unit, and smartphone business profits likely landing toward the lower end of estimates.