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Samsung quadruples profit on strong cell-phone sales
staff and wire reports
SEOUL, South Korea -- Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory-chip maker, on Friday said its third-quarter profit quadrupled compared with a year ago. Net profit totaled 1.73 trillion won ($1.39 billion), up from 425 billion the same time in 2001. The third-quarter profit marked an 8.9 percent drop from the previous quarter. But it was in line with forecasts. Sales rose 37 percent to 9.92 trillion won ($7.99 billion) compared with a year ago, thanks in part to strong cell-phone handset sales. That was slightly less than expected. Still, Samsung is seeing its cell-phone sales grow faster than any competitor. It is eating into the market share of Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia. Looking at cheaper phonesThe company said it expects to sell 12 million cell phone handsets in the fourth quarter, up from 11 million from the third quarter, for a 9.1 percent increase. Samsung, which has so far specialized in expensive color-screen phones, said it is considering starting to target the lower end of the cell-phone market. The company said it sees chip demand picking up in the first two quarters of 2003. Its large array of products bolstered it to withstand the slump in chip demand this year. Samsung also makes a full range of consumer electronics and appliances. Rival electronics maker LG Electronics on Thursday posted a net profit for the third quarter, reversing a year-ago loss. (Full story) Samsung stock has leaped 4.72 percent on Friday morning, to 322,000 won, outstripping the benchmark Kospi index. That is up 2.93 percent to 663.53.
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