Samsung sees Q1 profits slip 30%

Samsung yesterday posted a 30 per cent fall in first-quarter profits on the back of tumbling memory chip prices and narrower margins on its flat screen TVs.

The South Korean firm, which makes the Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet computer, made a profit of 2.8 trillion won (1.6 billion) in the three months to 31 March, compared with 3.99 trillion won a year earlier.

Samsung blamed rising raw material costs, financial market instability in Europe, Japan's tsunami and the political situation in the Middle East for the fall in profits but said it was more optimistic about rising demand for flat screen TVs in the second half of the year.