Samsung Profits Soar on Big Chip Sales Jump

Samsung Electronics said Friday that net profit surged in the first quarter amid strong demand and higher prices for computer memory chips.

The company said it earned 3.99 trillion won ($3.59 billion) in the three months ended March 31. It recorded net profit of 580 billion won the year before.

Samsung said sales in the first quarter totaled 34.64 trillion won. That was 20.8 percent higher than the 28.67 trillion won reported a year earlier.

Samsung is the world’s largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, flat screen televisions and liquid crystal displays. It ranks No. 2 in mobile phones behind Finland’s Nokia Corp.

Samsung manufactures both DRAM, or dynamic ransom access memory, chips and NAND flash memory chips.

DRAM chips are used mostly in personal computers, while NAND are used in devices such as digital cameras, music players and smart phones.

The company said in a release that tight supply and strong demand caused DRAM prices to rise. Further, Samsung cited steady demand for NAND flash chips in line with consumer purchases of smart phones and mobile application products.

Investors cheered the results, sending Samsung shares 2.8 percent higher to 841,000 won in morning trading.

Shares in Samsung, which surged 77 percent in 2009, hit a record high of 870,000 won on April 5 this year.

SEOUL, South Korea