Screens and phones are in surprisingly strong demand

The Korean firm earned 3.1 trillion won (£1.5bn; $2.7bn) in the three months to end-March, well ahead of forecasts.

Almost all the firm's electronics businesses have turned positive in recent months, led by a resurgence in the long-sluggish chip market.

The firm also builds two hot products - plasma screens and camera phones.

The company said that the cheer would continue throughout 2004, and predicted a doubling in full-year net profit to 11.7 trillion won.

Shares in the company fell by 3%, however - partly because of mixed views on future prospects, and partly because investors are cashing in gains over the past few days.

Gloomier

Nonetheless, its performance surpasses the gloomier picture at Nokia, a major rival in the mobile telecoms business.

The Finnish firm on Friday reported a 16% fall in first-quarter profit and predicted its business would get worse before it improved.

Samsung said it expected its global market share in mobile phones would rise to 14% in the first quarter, up from 10.5% a year earlier.