April 22, 2004 – South Korea’s Samsung reported record sales and earnings in 1Q04: $12.50 billion and $2.72 billion, up 50% and 178%, respectively, from a year ago. Sales for the company’s semiconductor business were up 5.6% quarter-on-quarter to $3.57 billion, and contributed 29% of Samsung’s overall revenues, due to demand for flash memory, rising DRAM prices, and more advanced shrink technologies.

Overall, the record revenues were due to “balanced growth and sales of the three major cash cows” (semiconductor, mobile handset, and LCD divisions), according to the Korea Times. Samsung said it spent about $2.3 billion for capital spending in 1Q04, one-third of its budget for the year. For all of 2004, the company expects to nearly double its sales from a year ago.