- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
Samsung forecasts Q1 operating profit up 50.3% year-on-year
Samsung Electronics expects operating profits for the first quarter to rise 50.3 percent, the South Korean tech giant said in a statement Thursday, despite global supply chain woes.
The world's biggest smartphone maker forecast 2022 first-quarter operating profits of about 14.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion), up from 9.4 trillion won in the same quarter last year.
Samsung did not provide details on the performance of its various divisions. The company is expected to release its full results on April 28.
Analysts said the forecast was likely driven by strong smartphone sales, but warned of an expected drop in profits in the memory chip division.
"Price decline in memory chips will be contained on the back of stronger than expected demand," Kim Un-ho, an analyst at IBK Investment & Securities, said in a report.
Profits in Samsung's mobile business are expected to soar by 55.8 percent compared with Q4, to over 4.1 trillion won, offsetting an anticipated six percent decline in profits from its memory chips division, the report said.
With memory chips now used in a wide-ranging array of devices and cloud servers -- essential for remote working in the pandemic era -- the sector has become less dependent on seasonally-driven demand for gadgets such as smartphones and laptops.
Last year saw a surge in chip prices amid strong demand for those used in personal devices and data centres, helping Samsung hit record annual sales.
Going forward, Kim forecast the conglomerate would make 60.5 trillion won in operating profits for 2022 overall, a 17 percent increase on-year.
- Smartphone app -
But Samsung's smartphones division was in hot water in its native South Korea recently over a pre-installed app called Game Optimizations Service on the latest Galaxy S phone lineup.
Designed to fine-tune system performances, it was found to actually throttle the speed of up to 10,000 apps.
The issue forced Samsung's vice chairman, Han Jong-hee, to apologise at a shareholders' meeting last month, and prompted a class action by nearly 2,000 consumers seeking 300,000 won in compensation each.
While the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world economy, it has helped many tech companies boom.
The shift to working from home during the pandemic has boosted demand for devices powered by Samsung's chips as well as home appliances such as televisions and washing machines.
The world's biggest memory chip maker, Samsung Electronics has aggressively stepped up investment in its semiconductor business as the world battles chip shortages that have hit everything from cars and home appliances to smartphones and gaming consoles.
In November, it announced a new microchip factory in Texas, a $17 billion investment. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2024.
The firm is also investing in the development of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and 5G/6G communications.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung group, by far the largest of the family-controlled empires known as chaebols that dominate business in South Korea.
The conglomerate's overall turnover is equivalent to about one-fifth of South Korea's gross domestic product.
I.Meyer--BTB