The vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., a global leader in semiconductors and mobile phones, said Wednesday that the company's non-memory chip sector is facing major challenges.

   In a message sent to employees outlining prospects for the second quarter, Kwon Oh-hyun said that while the company's overall semiconductor sales rose in the first three months of 2014, the conditions for large scale integration (LSI) circuits were not upbeat.

   These chips act as central processing units in smartphones, are used in image sensors for digital cameras and are enabling chips for TV displays.

   "If Samsung is to remain at the top globally, it must generate results in all chip sectors," the senior executive in charge of device solutions operations stressed.

   He said that more effort must be made in system LSI, particularly in the high-end application processor field. Kwon said such action is needed to instill an image among customers that Samsung is the leader in semiconductors.

   The executive's comments come as market watchers said Samsung posted operating profits close to 2 trillion won (US$1.92 billion) in the first quarter, but its earnings in the system LSI sector stood in the region of 10 billion won. (Yonhap)