Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group’s IT affiliates lost nearly 20 trillion won ($19.6 billion) from falls in their share prices since July, data showed Thursday, amid worries that the lagging performance of the group’s mainstay unit, Samsung Electronics Co., may continue this year.

The combined market capitalization of Samsung Group’s four listed IT firms totaled 214 trillion won as of Wednesday, down 8.4 percent from 233.7 trillion won registered on July 1, according to the data compiled by market researcher FnGuide. The four IT affiliates include Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI and Samsung Techwin.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics’ recent slump in sales had a negative impact on the overall IT affiliates, according to market watchers. The value of the handset maker’s total shares suffered a 9.9 percent drop over the two-month period, with the share price declining to under 1.2 million won the first time in almost two years, the data showed.

“The recent fall in the stock price of Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics came as a result of Samsung Electronics’ weak smartphone sales,” said Park Won-jae, a researcher at KDB Daewoo Securities. “The outlooks of affiliated companies should be revised down as well.” (Yonhap)