Samsung reports lower than expected fall in operating income

Samsung said in August last year that it expected to invest US$7bil over the next three years to expand its NAND memory chip production in China

Samsung Electronics Co’s quarterly profit more than halved after a global industry downturn and trade tensions hammered demand for its chips and high-end smartphones.

Korea’s largest company reported a less-than-expected 56% fall in operating income to about 6.5 trillion won (US$5.6bil) in the June quarter – but that was helped by an unspecified one-time gain from a customer that analysts estimate could have topped US$800mil.