Samsung Electronics posted a 15 per cent drop in first-quarter net profit to $1.7 billion on the back of weaker chip sales.
The April-June outlook remains grim as the world's top memory chip maker forecast a further 5-10 per cent drop in dynamic random access memory (DRAM) prices in the second quarter.
But it said the second quarter would represent a bottom for DRAM profitability, and analysts expect Samsung's earnings to improve in the second half as seasonal demand for consumer electronics picks up.
The weak result at the chips unit overshadowed a recovery in the company's mobile phone business driven by a new focus on medium- and lower-end models.
January-March operating margins on chips slumped to 12 per cent from 31 per cent in the previous quarter and 26 per cent a year earlier.
Samsung posted January-March net profit of 1.6 trillion won, down from 1.88 trillion won a year earlier - and its lowest quarterly net since the first quarter of 2005. Operating profit was 1.18 trillion won, the lowest since the second quarter of 2003.