( dpa ) - Samsung Electronics Co on Tuesday reported a decline in its earnings growth in the final quarter of 2007 as chip prices fell, but the 6.6-per-cent downturn was less than expected, thanks to strong performances delivered by its flat-screen and mobile-phone divisions.
The world's second-largest chip producer after Intel saw its net income fall to 2.21 trillion won (2.4 billion dollars) from 2.37 trillion won in the same quarter a year earlier.
Sales rose 11.4 per cent to 17.5 trillion won, South Korea's largest electronics concern said.
For all of last year, net income declined to 7.43 trillion won from 7.92 trillion won in 2006 while sales rose 7 per cent to 63.17 trillion won.
Samsung was hit by an oversupply of chips on the market, which it expected to continue into the first half of 2008, but it was helped by strong demand and an undersupply of screens used in computers and televisions.
Its earnings from semiconductor sales fell 74 per cent in the fourth quarter to 430 billion won, but the world's largest maker of liquid-crystal displays said profits from those screens rose threefold to 920 billion won.
The world's second-largest mobile-phone maker also said its earnings from telecommunications increased 67 per cent to 580 billion won as it set a quarterly record for mobile-phone sales at 46.3 million. dpa dg ls