“As consumers, it seems to most of us that all Korean gadget giant Samsung makes is TVs, Android phones, Android tablets, some computers, and commercials featuring LeBron James or hipsters in iPhone lines, Nicholas Carlson writes for BusinessInsider. “But actually, Samsung also has a pretty big business making the guts of gadgets for other companies.”
“During the quarter that ended October 25, Samsung generated $8.2 billion in revenue through its semiconductor business. Samsung profited more than a billion dollars during the quarter on those revenues.One of the companies Samsung makes semiconductors for is Apple. In fact, Apple is a huge Samsung semiconductor customer,” Carlson.”Digitimes Research estimates that Apple’s iPod, iPhone, and iPad made up ~81% of processors Samsung made in 2012.”
Carlson report is based on the news that Apple has requested A6X Chip from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC).
Here is the thing, Carlson is spot on with his analyst of what is about to happen to Samsung. There are a few reports indicating that Samsung Semiconductor division will make up for the loss by selling more Chips to the Mobile division. But in reality, nothing can compensate for this huge loss of revenue Samsung’s Semiconductor division is generating in sales to Apple. This not evening taking into consideration the lost of future revenues, had Apple continue using Samsung for the Chips.
According to Carlson, Samsung’s revenues were ~$173 billion and semiconductor business only accounted for $25 billion+ over the last 12 months. However, Carlson made the point that Samsung will have to continue this tremendous growth in mobile phone sales to offset such a loss.
In my opinion, this is very unlikely to happen given the competitive nature of the smartphone industry.