Samsung Electronics listed its second-quarter performance report, Samsung shares rose as much as 3.2 percent in early Seoul trading, while shares in SK Hynix, another South Korean memory chip maker, rose as much as 3.4 percent.
, Samsung’s de facto chief Lee Jae-Yong met with a few high-profile Japanese enterprise leaders earlier this week. Though the motive of this assembly remains unconfirmed, it’s believed that Lee’s goal is to strengthen enterprise ties with Japan.
The biggest worry for investors is that weak consumer demand and soaring material costs will affect the $550 billion chip industry.
The market value of the four Asian chipmakers rose by about $30 billion (about 200 billion yuan).
“The result was not as bad as expected,” said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at South Korean investment firm HI Investment Securities. “There was huge concern in the market and Samsung’s earnings forecast was lowered, but the result was within the expected range.”
