Samsung said on Friday in its earnings guidance that it recorded 73 trillion won in sales and 15.8 trillion won in operating profit during the third quarter this year.

The quarterly sales figure is its highest to date while operating profit was its second-highest so far, trailing only its 2018 third quarter operating profit.

Sales and operating profit increased 9% and 27%, respectively, from a year prior.

South Korean analysts expect semiconductors and smartphones to be what has led to Samsung's strong growth. The conglomerate's semiconductor business likely contributed over half of the operating profit, thanks to solid prices of memory chips, the analysts added.

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Increases in memory chip prices started during the second quarter, which analysts said has helped the company to continue performing well in the third quarter.

Besides memory, Samsung's foundry business is also expected to have performed strongly thanks to an increase in service prices, analysts said.

Samsung Mobile will also post strong sales and operating profit due to better-than-expected performances of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung revealed earlier this week that it has sold a million units of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 in South Korea.

Samsung Display is also expected to contribute solidly to operating profit from increased shipments of OLED panels for notebooks and tablets.

Samsung will announce its full earnings report at the end of the month.

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