Samsung Electronics says its first-quarter operating profit likely jumped 56 percent to a record high. The South Korean tech giant estimated in its preliminary earnings report Friday that its January-March operating income was 15.6 trillion won ($14.7 billion), compared with 9.9 trillion won a year earlier. The estimate was higher than expected.
Sales rose 19 percent to an estimated 60 trillion won. The company did not disclose its estimated net income. Analysts said Samsung likely recorded lower profit in its display business that supplies OLED screens for Apple’s iPhones but strong demand for memory chips outweighed weaker display sales.
Samsung unseated Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor maker last year on the back of solid demand for chips that hold data and help run programs faster for servers and phones.