By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> reported a 59% rise in quarterly operating profit on Thursday as U.S. restrictions on China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] boosted the South Korean tech giant’s phone and chip sales.
Operating profit rose to 12.35 trillion won ($10.96 billion) for the quarter ended September from 7.78 trillion won a year earlier, the world’s top maker of memory chips and smartphones said. That was in line with the company’s estimate of 12.3 trillion won earlier this month.
Net profit rose 49% to 9.36 trillion won. Revenue climbed 8% to 66.96 trillion won.
The result likely reflects gains in Samsung’s share of the smartphone market as U.S. restrictions hit Chinese rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], as well as lower marketing costs amid the coronavirus pandemic, analysts said.
The U.S. restrictions on Huawei also boost Samsung’s chip division, as the Chinese company is buying more of the South Korean company’s semiconductors to replace chips made with U.S. technology.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Stephen Coates)
