SEOUL: South Korean giant Samsung Electronics posted an 8.0 percent fall in second quarter net profit Thursday and promised "flexible" pricing of its new flagship smartphone after less than stellar sales contributed to a slump in its mobile unit's earnings.
The world's largest smartphone maker said net profit for the April-June period stood at 5.75 trillion won ($4.9 billion), down from 6.25 trillion won a year ago and slightly below analyst estimates.
The conglomerate has now seen its net profit decline for five straight quarters year-on-year, mainly due to heightened competition in an increasingly saturated smartphone market that it had dominated for years.
Operating profit also shrank 4.03 percent from a year ago to 6.9 trillion won, while sales dropped 7.3 percent to 48.5 trillion won.
Samsung has faced a double challenge from US arch-rival Apple in the high-end smartphone market and rising Chinese firms like Xiaomi in the mid- and low-end market.
Hopes of a turnaround had largely been pinned on the sixth edition of its flagship smartphone launched in April.
The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge with a wraparound screen received rave reviews, but company predictions of record sales fell short of expectations, partly due to production and supply constraints.
Operating profit in the mobile division was down 38 percent year-on-year in the second quarter at 2.76 trillion won.
The company also announced Thursday a mid-year dividend of 1,000 won a share, or 148.9 trillion won in total, compared to 500 won a year ago.
But it did not stop investors from dumping Samsung shares in Seoul stock market, where the firm's shares dropped 3.8 percent to close at 1.21 million won.
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