Samsung’s smartphone factory utilization rate hit a record low in the third quarter of this year, Business Korea reported.
Samsung Electronics’ smartphone factory utilization rate was 72.2 percent, down 8.1 percentage points from 80.3 percent a year ago. This means that only 7 out of 10 production lines were running in the third quarter of this year, the lowest level since Samsung Electronics began separately disclosing its smartphone factory utilization rate in 2010.
Samsung’s factory utilization rate is declining as inventory builds up due to falling global demand. Samsung’s inventory assets currently stand at 573,198 billion won (about 307,234 million yuan), up 38.5 percent from 413,840 billion won at the end of 2021. Its inventory assets for memory DRAM, NAND flash memory and IT products stand at 16 trillion won.
LG Electronics factory utilization rate also declined, according to the company’s quarterly report for the third quarter of this year. Its refrigerator factory utilization rate fell to 113.3 percent from 129.7 percent a year ago, washing machines fell to 88 percent from 105 percent, air conditioners fell to 102.9 percent from 113.2 percent, and vision equipment fell to 81.1 percent from 96.4 percent.
