Samsung Q1 net profit falls 38.9%

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics posted a near 40 percent fall in first quarter net profit on Wednesday, missing analyst estimates despite a surge in memory chip demand that cushioned a slump in smartphone sales.

Facing increasing competition from arch rival Apple and smaller Chinese manufacturers, the world’s top handset maker reported a net profit of 4.6 trillion won ($4.3 billion) for the January-March period, down 38.9 percent from a year earlier.