THE RESULTS: Samsung Electronics Co. reported a 17 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit to $3.5 billion.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS: Samsung benefited from the strength of smartphone sales even as the company battled claims it had copied Apple’s iPhone.
INDUSTRY TRENDS: Samsung, the world’s biggest manufacturer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays, says demand for semiconductors in mobile products and servers remains solid despite weakness in personal computers, which face stiff competition from the rising popularity of tablet computers.
