SAN FRANCISCO—South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. recorded a sharply better operating profit in the third quarter, thanks largely to better demand and higher average selling prices (ASPs) for memory chips, the company said Friday (Oct. 30).
Samsung (Seoul) reported consolidated sales for the quarter of 35.87 trillion Korean won ($30.3 billion), up 18.5 percent from the third quarter of 2008, the company said. The company's net income was 3.72 trillion won ($3.14 billion), more than three times its net income in the third quarter of 2008, Samsung said.
Consolidated operating profit for the quarter was 4.23 trillion won ($3.58 billion) , up 67.8 percent sequentially and 185.8 percent year-to-year, Samsung said.
"Looking ahead, we forecast a solid fourth quarter supported by seasonal demand for consumer electronics, though the appreciation of the won and increased marketing expenses may lead to a quarter-on-quarter decline in profit," said Robert Yi, vice president and dead of Samsung's investor relations team, in a statement.
Samsung said it expects consolidated capital expenditure for 2009 to reach 7 trillion won ($5.9 billion), including 4 trillion for semiconductor and 2 trillion for LCD, more than initially planned.
Samsung said earlier this month it expected third-quarter revenue to reach 36 trillion won ($30.3 billion) and operating profit to reach 4.1 trillion won ($3.47 billion).
Samsung's Semiconductor divisions recorded a consolidated third-quarter operating profit of 1.15 ($971 million) trillion won, the company said. Semiconductor revenue reached 7.46 trillion won ($6.3 billion), up 25.3 percent year-to-year, the company said.
DRAM ASPs increased 20 percent quarter-on-quarter, while spot prices for 1 Gb DDR2 were up 28 percent from the previous quarter, Samsung said. Spot prices for 16 Gb MLC NAND flash memory increased 9 percent quarter-on-quarter, Samsung said.
Third-quarter revenue from Samsung's LCD Division was 6.73 trillion won, up 20.6 percent compared to the third quarter of 2008, Samsung said. ASPs increased across all segments, including panels for TVs (up 16 percent), monitors (up 17 percent) and notebook computers (up 22 percent), Samsung said.
Revenue from Samsung's mobile handset unit reached 10.7 trillion won ($9 billion), up 20.6 year-to-year, Samsung said. The company said it estimates that its global handset market share exceeded 20 percent for the first time in the third quarter.
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