Samsung Electronics has forecast a 26% drop in profits as its liquid crystal display (LCD) business continues to suffer.

因液晶屏市场持续不景气，三星电子预测今年盈利将下降26%。

Samsung estimates that its operating profit for the April to June quarter will be 3.7tn won ($3.5bn; £2.2bn), down from 5.01tn won a year earlier.

The South Korean company did not release a net profit figure.

Samsung is the world's top maker¹ of flat-panel televisions and memory chips.

Smartphones boost

Analysts² said the slump³ was not much of a surprise.

"[The forecast] is slightly better than what the market had been expected, as many had been slashing⁴ their forecasts recently due to losses from the LCD division," said Kim Young-chan from Shinhan Investment Corp.

Despite the bleak⁵（阴冷的，荒凉的） outlook, some industry watchers expect Samsung's performance to improve in coming months, largely because of booming sales of its Galaxy⁶ line of smartphones and tablets computers.

At the end of June, Samsung had sold about three million units of its latest Galaxy model globally, according to the company.

"It will be again smartphones which will lead earnings⁷ recovery in the second half of this year, although competition may get tough again in the third quarter when Apple introduces a new iPhone," said Mr Kim.

That increased competition, along with the uncertainty⁸ in the global economy, would continue to put pressure on Samsung for the rest of the year, analysts said.

Samsung will provide detailed⁹ quarterly results later this month.