South Korea Inc heaps added pressure on Samsung
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Peer pressure might be a good thing for Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) . The $350 billion conglomerate’s 51% rise in quarterly operating profit underscores its dependence on memory chips. Local competitors Hyundai (005380.KS) , SK (034730.KS) and LG (003550.KS) are moving faster to capitalise on new markets. Maybe that’ll be a call to action. Strong demand for high-margin DRAM and NAND chips used in phones, PCs and data centre servers powered another strong quarter at South Korea’s biggest company. Operating profit in Samsung’s semiconductor division, which also houses smaller foundry and microprocessor businesses, surged 150% from a year earlier to $6.7 billion in the three months ending March 31. Chips stand apart at Samsung. Decent sales of its latest flagship Galaxy model weren’t enough to overcome other challenges in the mobile and devices unit, where operating profit tumbled 17% from a year earlier. Concerns about supply-chain snarls, weak memory prices and geopolitical ...