Though falling sales of memory chips and flat screen TVs resulted in a 72 percent drop in Samsung’s first-quarter net profit, the company’s cell phone segment reported a 36 percent sequential rise in sales.
The handset segment generated 940 billion won in operating profits compared to last quarter’s figure of 160 billion, benefiting from a gain in market share and a manufacturing shift that affected results.
Despite the global economic slowdown, year-over-year results also improved. Last year, the segment generated 930 billion won in operating profit. Samsung is the world’s second-largest handset manufacturer after Nokia.
Overall, the company made 619.20 billion won ($463.5 million) in the three months ended March 31, compared to last year’s net profit of 2.19 trillion won. Revenue rose to 18.57 an 8.5 percent increase from last year’s figure of 17.11 won.