Samsung sees H1 chip op profit top $3.5 bn

SEOUL, INDIA: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to post more than 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in operating profit from its semiconductor business in the first half, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Tuesday.

Samsung, the world's biggest maker of memory chips, had initially expected up to 4.4 trillion won of operating profit from the chip division for the entire 2010, the newspaper said in its early Wednesday edition, citing an unnamed company source.

A Samsung Electronics spokesman declined to comment.

Higher prices of computer memory chips and recovering demand for personal computers are helping Samsung, which previously said it was considering increasing this year's capital investment in memory chips.

The company is expected to report its first-quarter earnings guidance next week.