South Korea's Samsung Electronics has reported a 72% annual fall in first quarter profits as poor demand depressed prices for its products.
Net profit for January-March was 619 billion won ($462.6m). Sales rose 8.5% over the period.
The quarterly result was still better than analysts had expected and compared with a 20 billion won loss in the last quarter of 2008 - the company's first quarterly loss.
'Despite the extremely challenging market environment, Samsung made a strong recovery from the fourth quarter of 2008, supported by stabilising semiconductor prices, increased profit margin for mobile phones and careful control of marketing and other expenditure,' the firm said in a statement.
The chip divisions recorded a quarterly operating loss of 670 billion won on weak demand and seasonal factors. Samsung said demand would improve slightly in the second quarter but oversupply would prevent any meaningful improvement in prices.
The LCD (liquid crystal display) division recorded an operating loss of 310 billion won but Samsung said it outperformed the broader market thanks to increased sales of large panels.
The telecommunications divisions rebounded in the first quarter to record an operating profit of 1.12 trillion.
