Samsung Elec second quarter profit down 56% as chip troubles persist

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> posted a 56% drop in second-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, hit by continuing declines in memory chip prices amid oversupply.

Operating profit was 6.6 trillion won ($5.6 billion) in the second quarter, in line with the 6.5 trillion won estimate the company released earlier this month.

The notoriously cyclical memory chip industry is in the midst of a downturn after a two-year boom, as slowing demand for gadgets such as smartphones pulls down chip prices.

Last week, Samsung’s South Korean chip rival SK Hynix <000660.KS> said it would cut investment and production to shore up a nascent recovery in chip demand.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Stephen Coates)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.