Major Korean IT firms' operating profit set to rise 200% in Q3

South Korea's top seven tech giants are expected to see their operating profit rise 200 percent on-year in the third quarter, a report showed Sunday, maintaining solid growth throughout 2017.

KB Securities Co. said Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc., Samsung SDI Co., LG Electronics Inc., LG Display Co., Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., and LG Innotek Co., are set to post a combined operating profit of 19.4 trillion won ($17.2 billion) in the July-September period.

For the second half of 2017, the companies are expected to post a combined operating profit of 38.9 trillion won, up 115 percent compared to a year earlier, it added.

Local tech giants mostly have been enjoying improved profits on the back of the rising demand for mobile products around the globe.

The brokerage house added that tech shares listed on the South Korean bourse will continue to trade bullish helped by improved earnings outlook.

The forecast also comes as US tech giant Apple Inc. will showcase a new flagship model in the fourth quarter, which will lead to higher demand for flexible organic light-emitting diode panels.

Samsung Electronics Co. also plans to adopt high-end hardware for the anticipated Galaxy Note 8 that will be unveiled later this month in New York and the Galaxy S9 in 2018, which will further beef up demand for premium smartphone parts. (Yonhap)