Korean giants Samsung and LG announced their financial results for the first quarter of 2020 and they both reported that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected their business performance.

Samsung registered a total revenue of KRW 55.33 trillion (US$ 45.11 billion) with an on-year increase of 5.6%. Operating profit is KRW 6.45 trillion (US$ 5.28 billion) decreased by 9.8% QoQ but increased by 3.2% YoY. Compared to the previous quarter 4Q19 which is usually the peak season of the year, the revenue of 1Q20 went down due to seasonality. And the on-year growth was due to increasing demand for server and mobile components.

(Image: Samsung)

As for its Display Panel Business, Samsung reported that earnings of mobile displays decline amid weak seasonality and sales drop in China due to shutdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

For the second quarter of 2020, Samsung anticipates that the uncertainties resulted by the COVID-19 pandemic will affect its business performance. Demands for smartphones and TVs are expected to drop significantly.

On the other hand, LG Display reported revenues of 1Q20 at KRW 4,724 billion (US$ 3.86 billion), down by 26% QoQ and 20% YoY. Net loss of the quarter came to KRW 199 billion (US$ 162.58 million).

LG Display noted that the revenue drop is due to panel area shipments decreased due to its continued move toward the structural improvement of the LCD business as well as a production setback caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

LG Display is going to stop domestic LCD production while Samsung Display will end the production of LCD globally by the end of 2020. The two Korean companies are shifting their focus to innovative display technologies including OLED and Micro LED.