All time high Q1 operating profit for Samsung
Samsung Electronics has reported a record Q1 operating profit, due, it says to strong demand for higher prices for memory chips as well as increased sales of mobile phones and flat screen televisions.
Samsung earned 3.99trillion won ($3.59 billion) in the three months ended March 31 – an all time high for the South Korean company, surpassing 3.81trillion won in the third quarter of last year.
The company also said sales in the first quarter totaled 34.64 trillion won, 20.8% higher than the 28.67trillion won reported a year earlier. Sales in its semiconductor business jumped 57% to 8.2trillion won in the first quarter.
Samsung said tight supply and strong demand caused prices for dram chips to rise, while there was a steady demand for nand flash memory chips in line with consumer purchases of smart phones and mobile application products.
64.3million mobile phones were sold in the first quarter, up 40% from the year before, while 8.4m flat screen tvs were shipped, a year on year increase of 47%.
