Samsung bets big on Galaxy

SEOUL, S.KOREA: Samsung Electronics, which posted record earnings in the April-June quarter, said that the company is making a big bet on Galaxy S, its answer to Apple's trendy iPhone.

It shipped more than half a million units of the Galaxy S, which will be sold globally through over 100 carriers, in a month since its June launch in Korea, as Apple delayed its new iPhone 4 sale due to regulatory issues.

But increased marketing spending for the Google Android-based smartphone and growing competition from other vendors such as Taiwan's HTC and Motorola will keep margins low in the coming quarters.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Microsoft Corp also plan to launch new smartphone operating systems.

Prices of Samsung's bread-and-butter memory chips are also set to weaken as China's tightening policy and the European debt crisis could hurt sales of PCs and other consumer goods.

Its smaller rivals LG Display, Hynix and AU Optronics have already warned prices of LCD and memory chips would fall in the third quarter.