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SEOUL - SAMSUNG Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips, reported on Tuesday a narrower-than-expected 7 per cent fall in quarterly profit as strong results from flat screens and mobile phones offset another poor performance by its chip unit.
Samsung, also the world's top maker of large LCD screens and TV sets, posted a net profit of 2.21 trillion won (S$3.40 billion) in the fourth quarter to Dec 31, compared with a 2.37 trillion won net profit a year earlier and 2.19 trillion won earned in the third quarter.
The result beat a 1.98 trillion won forecast from 10 analysts polled by Reuters.
The weak outlook for the South Korean company's chip business is set to linger in the first half of this year as a global oversupply of computer chips coincides with a weak season for sales.
But profit should be supported by strong results from the thriving liquid crystal display (LCD) and solid mobile phone businesses.
Makers of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), used in personal computers, are betting that spending cutbacks from cash-starved manufacturers and improving demand will eventually salvage the sector this year, but the recovery, when it happens, is likely to be a bumpy one.
DRAM, NAND prices to fall
Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday it expected a double-digit per cent decline in prices of its key products, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash chips.
The company, also the No. 1 maker of large liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, expects 'a couple of per cent' fall in first-quarter LCD prices against the fourth quarter of last year, with shipments remaining steady. Samsung made the forecasts during a fourth-quarter results conference call.
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