Samsung’s revenue fell because of the restructuring of the business, and this was its first decline since entering the local market directly in 2010. The representatives of the manufacturer blame the decline on Samsung having focused on its star products in Romania, smartphones and tablets, rather than on laptops.
“The slight decline in revenue, 1% in the first half, also visible in the second, was the result of us streamlining our business: we decided to focus on products like smartphones and tablets rather than laptops,” Samsung Electronics Romania officials say.
The decline comes after the 20% growth in revenue in 2013 compared with 2012. Moreover, the computer and electronics market in Romania grew by almost 14% last year, the highest growth rate in Europe, to more than EUR2 billion for the first time since 2008.
Still, the slight decline of the revenue in Romania comes at a time of slight decline for the overall Korean group’s revenue decline from KRW228.7 trillion (EUR185 billion) to KRW206.2 trillion.
Samsung posted RON1.24 billion revenue in Romania in the first half of 2014, down by a little more than 1% on the year-earlier period. Revenue stood at RON2.84 billion in 2013, when Samsung was the largest manufacturer and distributor of computer and electronics products, followed by Arctic.
Losses in the first half of 2014 widened to RON48.1 million, from the RON1.3 million in the first half of 2013. The loss in the first half was due, as the company says, to the increase in the investments to promote the refreshed product range, which it offset in the second half, so it ended 2014 in the black and remained the leading smartphone and TV set vendor.
Smartphone sales reached almost 2.5 million units in Romania last year, and Samsung has an about 45% market share, according to the latest data available. (EUR1=RON4.4424)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)