Samsung suffers 38.9% fall in Q1 net profit

Samsung Electronics posted a near 40 percent fall in first quarter net profit April 29, missing analyst estimates despite a surge in memory chip demand that cushioned a slump in smartphone sales.

Facing increasing competition from arch rival Apple and smaller Chinese manufacturers, the world's top handset maker reported a net profit of 4.6 trillion won ($4.3 billion) for the January-March period, down 38.9 percent from a year earlier.
 
It was the fourth straight quarterly decline in net profit and missed the 4.9 trillion-won average of 23 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.    

Operating profit also fell 29.6 percent on-year to 6.0 trillion won, largely in line with the firm's earlier forecast.
 
But in a sign that the South Korean electronics giant might be turning a corner after four successive quarters of significant declines, the operating profit was up 13.1 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.
 
In its earnings statement, Samsung said it expected overall earnings to increase in the second quarter as premium smartphone sales enter "into full swing."  

Samsung is pinning its hopes on the sixth edition of its flagship high-end smartphone launched in April.
 
The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge with a wraparound screen received rave reviews but Samsung cautioned competition would intensify in rapidly growing emerging markets.    

"In 2015, continued growth is expected due to the growth of emerging smartphone markets such as China and India as well as the global expansion of the LTE business," Samsung said in a statement.            

"However, increased competition in the middle-to low-end market...may present challenges," it said.
 
Operating profit of the...