Samsung Expects Record Q1 Profit

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said it expects to report first quarter sales of 33 trillion to 35 trillion Korean won ($29.2 billion to $31 billion). Samsung (Seoul, South Korea) said it expects to report a consolidated first quarter profit of about 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 billion) According to a report by the Reuters news service, Samsung's first quarter sales target is above consensus analyst expectations and would represent a record for the firm. Reuters also reported that the better-than-excepted guidance was driven by PC demand and increased memory chip average selling prices. In the fourth quarter of 2009, Samsung reported revenue of 39.2 trillion won (about $33.9 billion) and a profit of 3.7 trillion won (about $3.2 billion).