The market has grown more confident of South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics posting over 8 trillion won ($7 billion) in operating profit for the second quarter ended on June 30, 2016, thanks to strong U.S. dollar and profitable product mix. It would be the company’s best performance since the first quarter of 2014 when it reported a profit of 8.5 trillion won. The electronics company releases preliminary second-quarter data on July 7.

Korea’s local fund managers Hi Investment & Securities and NH Investment & Securities on Monday placed second-quarter profit in the range of 8.1 trillion won and 8.14 trillion won for the technology company. Their estimates were upgraded from previously projected 6.795 trillion won and 7.96 trillion won. The mood changed when Yuanta Securities Korea last week became the first to call 8 trillion won projection on Samsung Electronics’ second quarter operating income.

According to market analysis provider FnGuide, the average operating profit projected by local securities companies during the last three months was 7.4 trillion won. It was even lowered to 5.8 trillion won in early April.

The electronics maker’s mobile business propelled the improvement in operating income for the second quarter. Its flagship Galaxy S7 series as well as the budget models, the Galaxy A and J series phones, fared better than expected. The company was able to cut down its production cost by simplifying its lineup. Yuanta Securities Korea predicted the company to have raked in 4.5 trillion won in profit from the mobile phone and IT device division, possibly beating last best performance of 4.42 trillion won in the second quarter of 2014.

The semiconductor business that has been able to defend its operating income at mid 2 trillion won range also was able to withstand external challenges including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip price fall by securing stronger ground in non-volatile storage (NAND) flash chip technology.

Markets say that the television business would also have continued its upward momentum with unrivaled technical expertise in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) televisions and seasonal hike in TV demand.

By Noh Hyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]