Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest supplier of memory chips, flat-screen panels and TVs, is scheduled to announce an estimate of its earnings for the October-December quarter this week, a company official said Thursday.

   Samsung will report its guidance of the fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, the official said.

   The company is estimated to have posted 3.39 trillion won ($3.02 billion) in fourth-quarter earnings, according to the median estimate of analysts polled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

   Samsung, also the world's second-largest maker of mobile phones after Nokia Corp., will likely report 41.34 trillion won in sales in the same period, according to the consensus.

   Analysts said the company's income was hit by a downturn in its mainstay semiconductor and liquid-crystal display (LCD) panel markets, as lower demand battered their prices. But robust sales of new high-end products from Samsung's mobile business likely offset some of the price falls, they added.

   The company does not report its net profit in the earnings guidance. Details of the final fourth-quarter results, including its net income and a conference call with investors, are due out later this month. 

(Yonhap News)