Samsung Electronics sung said its operating profit fell 24.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year  to 7.2 trillion won ($7.03 billion), marking its worst quarterly profit in two years.

The drop in profits also flagged uncertain earnings prospects for its key handset business, fuelling worries about its ability to return to growth, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

It was the third straight quarter of profit decline and its weakest result since the second quarter of 2012.

Profit for the mobile division fell to 4.42 trillion won from 6.28 trillion won a year ago, also the lowest in two years.

The downbeat guidance, as well as Samsung's decision to keep its interim dividend unchanged from last year.

Samsung expects July-September handset shipments to pick up by 10pc from the previous quarter and said it planned to release a new premium smartphone employing a new design and material, underscoring efforts by the world's largest smartphone maker to regroup.

With its flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone outsold by Apple iPhone 5S in May and its cheaper devices feeling the squeeze from Chinese rivals like Xiaomi, Samsung also vowed to revamp its mid-to-low-tier product lineup with more aggressive pricing and a focus on a smaller set of products.

Those plans were mostly in line with market expectations and Samsung remained downbeat about its third-quarter prospects, with its mobile division expecting a decline in average sales price in the current quarter. – TradeArabia News Service