Trial of Samsung heir focuses on father-to-son succession

Samsung Electronics expects consolidated first quarter sales of approximately 50 trillion Korean won and operating profit of 9.8 to 10 trillion won.

The costly Galaxy Note 7 debacle, which led to the recall of about 3 million smartphones because of overheating batteries, seems to be behind Samsung Electronics, with the company forecasting a 48 percent growth in operating profit in the first quarter.

Revenues, however, are not expected to increase much over the same period, rising to about KRW50 trillion ($40 billion) from KRW49.78 trillion in the first quarter of 2016.

These results come before the launch of its new Galaxy S8 flagship phone (which looks set to be a hit) – it goes on sale on April 21st. That could help it stage a comeback in the wake of a string of controversies.

If Samsung launches the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 in India at a comparatively lower price, would you like to spend your money on this device?

Its vice-chairman Lee Jae-Yong, heir to the parent Samsung group, has since been arrested and indicted for bribery, along with four other senior executives, in connection with a graft scandal that saw ex-president Park Geun-Hye impeached. This merger is said to have been instrumental in giving Lee further control over Samsung.

Samsung has even equipped the S8 with a dedicated Bixby button, a move created to help establish the virtual assistant as one of the phone’s core features.

So you see, it turns out that the iPhone 8 really has the potential of becoming more important for Samsung even than its own Galaxy S8.

In fact, Samsung has made this high-end Galaxy S8 Plus official by publishing details of the same on its official South Korean website. The phones are bundled with the $149 (£120) Galaxy S8 DeX dock, which connects the phone to a monitor, keyboard and mouse, turning it into a lightweight desktop PC. The company is planning in converting more other companies to OLED displays, just like the ones featured by its devices.

“Samsung will look to recover the market share they lost a year ago and pump up volumes even if they have to spend more to do so”, IBK Asset Management fund manager Kim Hyun Su said.