Samsung returned to strong profit growth in the third quarter, with its operating profit expected to hit a record quarterly high, on strong demand for memory chips and smartphones.

The company’s Q3 guidance estimated its operating profit for the period at about KRW17.5 trillion ($15.5 billion), a 20.4 per cent increase year-on-year. The previous high was KRW15.6 trillion in Q1 2018. Consolidated sales were expected to increase 4.8 per cent to KRW65 trillion.

Samsung doesn’t break out revenue or operating profit for each business division in the quarterly guidance. It will release detailed earnings later this month.

Industry analysts said its memory business was the main driver behind the profit growth, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of its total operating profit in the quarter. Any slowdown in this business would have a significant impact on Samsung’s bottom line, they added.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expect the global semiconductor market to face falling demand by Q4, The Korea Herald reported.

The electronics giant’s net profit in Q2 was marginally lower than the 2017 quarter at KRW11.04 trillion due to higher income tax. Total revenue of KRW58.5 trillion was down 4 per cent from Q2 2017.

Its IT and mobile communications division suffered a 20 per cent year-on-year decline in second quarter revenue due to lower than expected sales of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus in a stagnant high-end smartphone market.

In a falling global smartphone market, Samsung maintained first place in Q2 despite its share dropping to 20.4 per cent on shipments of 71.5 million units, data from Strategy Analytics showed.