Earnings at the world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker were also supported by brisk smartphone sales in the quarter, along with a disruption at a rival NAND Flash chip plant.
"The guidance beat market expectations, probably due to memory chip shipments and prices being better than expected," said Park Sung-soon, analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.But analysts said solid demand from data centre clients as well as cautious investment spending by chipmakers and limited capacity expansion buoyed Samsung's chip earnings, which make up about half of its total profits.
The disruption at the Kioxia plant in early February is expected to drive up NAND Flash prices by 5%-10%, offsetting the effects of modestly high inventories maintained by buyers, data provider TrendForce said.