Samsung also faces challenges from the US-China trade war and tough export restrictions imposed by Tokyo on key supplies as part of a dispute with Seoul over wartime forced labour. The South Korean tech titan leads the global smartphone market with a 23 percent share, trailed by Chinese competitors Huawei and Oppo, with Apple in fourth place, according to sales tracker IHS Markit.
The premium smartphone market has grown fiercely competitive and overall sales have cooled as a lack of major innovation has seen buyers waiting longer before upgrading to new models. But Samsung said profits in its mobile division had been boosted by strong sales of the Galaxy Note 10 and its A series devices, along with bigger margins for mass-market models.
Samsung released its top-end S10 5G smartphone earlier this year after South Korea won the global race to commercially launch the world's first nationwide 5G network. In another setback, earlier this month it also acknowledged a major flaw with its fingerprint system allowing non-users to open other people's top-end smartphones.
Increasing availability of 5G services next year in the US, Japan and China is likely to boost Samsung's sales, added Mia Huang, an analyst at Taipei-based market intelligence firm TrendForce. "There is a good chance that 5G smartphones will occupy up to 10 percent of Samsung's product lineup, compared to around one percent this year," she said.
Operating profit plunged 55.7 percent to 7.8 trillion won in the third quarter, the firm said, while sales fell 5.3 percent to 62 trillion won. But analysts voiced optimism for the coming months, noting that falling inventory levels for semiconductors - which account for more than half of Samsung's profit - will help stabilise chip prices after double-digit drops this year.