Samsung forecasts record Q4 profits in spite of Note 7 debacle

Note 7 discontinuation hasn't hurt Samsung's bottom line last quarter.

Although Samsung said that the Note 7 termination would put a dent in its profits for two quarters, it doesn't look like that will be the case. The South Korean manufacturer has released its earnings guidance for Q4 2016, in which it estimated that operating profit was likely $7.8 billion (9.2 trillion won), up 50% from the same period in 2015. However, overall revenue for the quarter decreased by 0.6% from Q4 2015 to $45 billion (53 trillion won).

A large part of the uptick in profits is due to Samsung's chip business, which managed to offset the losses from the mobile unit. According to Reuters, the chip division is expected to post profits of over $3.3 billion (4 trillion won). With no flagship to catalyze sales, Samsung fell back on aggressively marketing the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, launching new color options and variants with higher internal storage.

Samsung will release its final earnings results in the last week of January.