Samsung, building smartwatches and eyeglasses that can take phone calls, posted record third-quarter earnings on surging prices for memory chips and sales of cheaper Galaxy smartphones in emerging markets.

Net income, excluding minority interest, rose 25 per cent to 8.05 trillion won in the third quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday, ahead of analyst projections.

Earnings are climbing on shipments of smartphones in China and rising demand for the processors Samsung uses in its own models and supplies to rivals including Apple, helping weather slowing growth in high-end handsets.

High-end devices stayed at a similar level to the three months ended June. Sales of tablet computers rose in the “mid-20 per cent” range during that period. – (Bloomberg)