SEOUL, KOREA - Semiconductor business is emerging as a reliever to Samsung Electronics which is facing difficulty due to the decline in profitability of its smartphone business.The memory chip market continues its robust trend, while the system LSI business, which has remained somewhat sluggish, is in recovery.

 

Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business is expected to pass the 2.5-trillion-won mark in operating profit in the third quarter of this year, first in four years.

Some market watchers said, “Chances are high for Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business to achieve more than 2.5 trillion won in operating profit in the third quarter of this year, first since the third quarter of 2010 when its semiconductor operating profit stood at 3.42 trillion won.”

Key factors behind the improvement in the company’s chip business include the hike in the worldwide sales of memory chips. The demand for memory chips has steadily increased thanks to the release of a variety of new smartphones and wearable devices.