Mobile sales help Samsung profits

Mobile phone sales have been strong

Strong sales of mobile phones and flat-screen televisions have boosted results at Samsung Electronics.

The firm's net profit rose 37% in the first three months of the year to 2.19 trillion won ($2.2bn; £1.1bn).

Samsung Electronics is the flagship unit of Samsung Group, the chairman of which resigned on Tuesday in a scandal involving tax evasion allegations.

Samsung said that mobile phone sales had been similar to the previous quarter's record 46.3 million handsets.

That was achieved despite a contraction of approximately 13% in the global handset market.

Samsung said that emerging markets such as India and China continued to be the main source of growth.

Samsung is the world's biggest supplier of memory chips and flat-screen televisions and number two in mobile phones.

Its semiconductor business saw a 2% fall in sales compared with the same period in 2007.

The flat-screen business was boosted by shortages of the units amid strong demand ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

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