Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips, said on Wednesday it aimed to increase its semiconductor revenue by more than 50 per cent in three years and unveiled an optimistic view for the memory market in 2010.

Samsung, which is set to report quarterly earnings on Friday, estimated its semiconductor revenue at $16.6 billion this year and said it was targeting $25.5 billion in chip sales in 2012.

There will also be small shortages in both dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash memory next year, Samsung said.

The predictions were made by the head of Samsung's semiconductor business, Kwon Oh-hyun, at a top management meeting and were confirmed by a spokesman.

Memory chip makers are cautiously upbeat on their outlook as the industry has emerged from a two-year downturn to enter an upcycle that is expected to last into 2010 on strong PC demand.

Bolstered by rebounding chip prices and robust sales of mobile phones and TVs, Samsung is forecast to report its best quarterly net profit ever in July-September, according to Reuters.

No. 2 memory chip maker and home rival Hynix Semiconductor last week reported it swung to quarterly profit for the first time in eight quarters.

At 0149 GMT, Samsung shares were down 1.9 perent, compared with the wider market's 1.5 per cent loss. – Reuters