Samsung Electronics Q3 profit falls 13 per cent; phone profit surges

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co, the world's top technology firm by revenue, reported a 13 per cent fall in quarterly profit, as the stellar performance of its handset business was overshadowed by a slump in its mainstay chip division.

The world's top maker of memory chips and No.2 maker of mobile phones reported a 4.25 trillion won ($3.8 billion) operating profit for the July-September quarter, in line with its earlier estimate of 4.2 trillion won.

That was down from 4.9 trillion won a year ago but up from 3.8 trillion won the preceding quarter.

Samsung trails Nokia in mobile phones, competes with Sony Corp and LG Electronics Inc in TVs, and Toshiba, Hynix in chips and LG Display in displays.

Shares in Samsung, also the world's top TV maker, have dropped 3 per cent so far this year, outperforming a 6 per cent fall in the KOSPI. ($1 = 1115.250 Korean Won)