Tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Thursday its second-quarter operating profit likely rose 17.4 per cent from a year earlier, its highest in more than 2 years as Galaxy S7 smartphone sales propelled mobile earnings.

The world's top maker of smartphones and memory chips said in a regulatory filing its April-June profit was likely 8.1 trillion won ($7 billion), better than the average forecast of 7.8 trillion won tipped by a Thomson Reuters survey of 16 analysts. This was the highest since a 8.5 trillion won profit in the first quarter of 2014.

"Firm Galaxy S7 sales and growth in sales of mid- to low-tier smartphones have strengthened the mobile divison's market power and profitability, underscoring the recovery in the company's smartphone competitiveness," Eugene Investment & Securities said in a report ahead of the earnings guidance.

While Samsung will not disclose detailed results until late July, analysts said ahead of the earnings guidance the mobile division would remain the top earner for the second straight quarter on the back of strong Galaxy S7 sales.

Some analysts say Samsung shipped about 16 million Galaxy S7s in April-June, with a higher-priced curved-screen version out selling its flat-screen counterpart and boosting margins.

Lacklustre sales of offerings from rivals such as Apple Inc and LG Electronics Inc helped to reduce Samsung's marketing expenses, they said.

Samsung said revenue for the quarter likely rose 3 per cent from a year earlier to 50 trillion won, compared with 51.4 trillion won tipped by the Thomson Reuters survey. – Reuters