Seoul — Samsung Electronics’ profits leapt in the fourth quarter, it said on Tuesday, despite the humiliating Galaxy Note 7 recall that hammered the reputation of the world’s largest smartphone maker. The South Korean tech giant took another blow when prosecutors began investigating its involvement in a corruption scandal, which has seen the country’s president impeached, and sought the arrest of the firm’s de facto leader Lee Jae-Yong. In a statement, the group’s flagship subsidiary Samsung Electronics said it posted operating profits of 9.22-trillion won ($7.9bn) during the October to December period, up 50.2% year on year. Net profits for the quarter were 7.09-trillion won, up 120%. Earnings were "driven by the components businesses, mainly the memory business and the display panel segment", it said, with the stronger US dollar also boosting profits. Analysts say memory chip prices have been driven up by stronger demand as Chinese smartphone makers release devices with high resol...
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