By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd likely saw a 45% jump in profit for January-March on robust sales of smartphones, TVs and home appliances, though chip division earnings are seen tumbling after a storm suspended production at its U.S. plant. Spending more time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, consumers have splashed out on an array of high-margin consumer electronics which in turn has helped cause a global shortage of semiconductors. Operating profit for the South Korean tech giant in the quarter is expected to have climbed to 9.3 trillion won ($8.2 billion), according to a Refinitiv SmartEstimate drawn from 16 analysts. SmartEstimates assign more weight to forecasts from consistently accurate analysts.
Read more about Samsung considering four sites in US for $17 bn chip plant, documents show on Business Standard. The tech giant also said in the documents dated Feb. 26 that it is seeking combined tax abatements of $1.48 billion over 20 years from Travis County and the city of Austin