Tech

Will Samsung's ill fortunes continue?

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Samsung's third quarter earnings guidance set to be reported Tuesday is forecast to be the firm's weakest since 2011, but some analysts say the electronics giant should be able to turn around its fortunes soon.

Samsung's guidance is ahead of the full third-quarter results at the end of October.

According to a mean forecast of 42 Reuters analysts, operating profit will fall 45 percent to 5.6 trillion won ($5.28 billion), from a record 10.2 trillion won a year earlier, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2011.

"The market has clearly digested that the numbers are going to be very weak. But the more important investment question is: Are they still a world class company? My answer is absolutely yes," Shaun Cochran, head of research for Korea at CLSA, told CNBC on Monday.

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"I don't think their culture goes away overnight, there's not an existential threat to their business, their reach, their marketing span, their innovation," he added.

Up until recently, the world's largest smartphone maker was considered an unstoppable force. But since Apple has started getting its groove back and competition from low-end handset manufacturers has intensified, the outlook has started to look more dubious.

Shares in the technology giant are down 16 percent year to date, while rival Apple is up over 25 percent.

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Cochran added that part of Samsung's problem was that its profit levels in the past have been so exceptional.

"They have gone from making super normal profits that were clearly unsustainable, but now the question is how low can they go? Short term earnings aren't very predictable but I do think they are a world class company that can earn its cost to capital over time," he added.

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Is Samsung losing steam?
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Is Samsung losing steam?

However, Tom Kang, research director for mobile devices at Counter Point Research, said the tech giant still faces some intrinsic challenges that could mean the tech giant will need another six months before it turns things around.

"They've been concentrating too much on the premium high end and trying to beat Apple. That's not been working for at least a year but they're being a bit stubborn. Now they are not only losing the premium battle but they are losing the battle in the mid to low tier as well," he said.

Kang told CNBC that Samsung would need to let go of some of its previously successful smartphone models to turn itself around.

"They might have to let go of the Galaxy brand as it's not strong enough to fight against Apple. If they want to compete in the premium strategy they need a new strategy and that means a new brand," he said.

Samsung has also missed an important consumer trend, Kang pointed out: consumers' shift from a focus on innovation and high quality to seeking out value for money, which has occurred over the past year.

"They'll to have to restructure on that and they need to create products that bring more value compared to the cost," he said.

Kang went as far as to compare Samsung's current issues to troubled Finnish smartphone developer Nokia, which was late to jump on the smartphone trend. Its devices and services business was acquired by Microsoft in April this year.

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"Nokia made three or four consecutive misses, so Samsung has time. But if Samsung made the same number of misses, if they do not react to the market or behave arrogantly then they could do a Nokia," he added.

But CLSA's Cochran strongly disagreed: "The strength of Samsung is that they're not a Nokia, a Motorola or a Blackberry they don't operate in only one product category and they don't have one or two products that dominate their sales."

"They make absolutely everything and see how it goes... over time the customer gets what they want," he added.