Samsung reported its smallest quarterly profit in four years after steep declines in computer memory chip prices overshadowed improvements in flat screens.
Samsung earned a net profit of 1.42 trillion won ($1.55 billion) in the second quarter, down 5 per cent from around 1.5 trillion a year ago.
The figure was higher than the 1.29 trillion won net profit forecast from 10 analysts surveyed by Reuters, but the worst for the company since the second quarter of 2003.
But the market for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, used in personal computers, expected to recover on seasonal demand, along with strong sales of mobile phones and flat screens.
Shares in Samsung, the most valuable technology company outside of the United States, rose 5 per cent, leading the wider market's 2 per cent gain on a media report that Samsung might become the target of a hostile takeover.