Samsung Electronics flags record Q3 operating profit

Samsung Electronics Friday forecast a record operating profit of 17.5 trillion won (USD 15.4 billion) in the third quarter led by solid demand for its memory chips.

Sales for July to September are expected to reach 65 trillion won, the world's largest maker of smartphones and memory chips said in a regulatory filing.

The earnings forecast from the South Korean electronics giant beat market consensus of about 17.2 trillion won according to market researcher FnGuide, with analysts expecting a jump in profits on a strong performance by the company's semiconductor unit.

Third-quarter operating profit was up 20.4 per cent from a year ago while sales jumped by 4.7 per cent.

"Operating profit seems to be at its peak now," Greg Roh, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, told Bloomberg News.

"Early next year might be the right time to buy Samsung before growth picks up again in the bottom half of next year," he added.

Samsung shares rose as much as 1.8 per cent in early trading in Seoul.

Samsung withholds net profit and sector-by-sector business performance until it releases its final earnings report, which is expected later this month.

The South Korean tech giant has seen profits soar in recent years largely thanks to solid demand for memory chips for mobile devices which has helped offset weakening profits from its own mobile production.

Samsung's chipmaking unit -- currently dominating the global market after the firm invested tens of billions of dollars each year to build and expand factories -- provides chips for its own devices as well as those of competitors including Apple.

But there are growing concerns over declining chip prices.

The price of DRAM products -- used in mobile devices, servers and