Samsung says growing demand may increase chip market sales

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Wednesday that while the piling economic fears of the coronavirus pandemic would hurt sales of consumer electronics for 2020, it said that a growing demand from data centers could potentially restore its memory chip markets.

Chief Executive Kim Ki-nam said that the virus outbreak as well as the U.S.-China trade war was dulling the tech giant’s business outlook.

While Samsung’s smartphone market, whose Galaxy smartphones are a direct competitor of Apple’s iPhones, Kim said that its chip market could see an increase in demand after a decline in sales last year due to trade disputes between China and the U.S.   

Samsung also said that its anticipated investments from data centers as well as developments in its 5G wireless networks could ramp up its chip sales, which makes up half of its operating profit, in the year. Meanwhile, Kim is expecting chipmakers to concentrate on enhancing manufacturing processes instead of expanding production capacity for 2020.

Samsung’s shares inched up by 0.6% as of 0120 GMT despite the broader market dropping by 0.5%