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News Update

U.N. Sees Record Spike in Civilian Children Killed in Afghanistan

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan rose to record-setting levels in 2016 — including a 25 percent surge in child victims — the United Nations said Monday.

An increase in attacks perpetrated by ISIS-affiliated groups and a near-doubling in the number of Afghans killed by airstrikes were blamed for the rise.

“The killing and maiming of thousands of Afghan civilians is deeply harrowing and largely preventable,” Tadamichi Yamamoto, the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan told a news conference unveiling the figures.

In addition to the years-long Taliban insurgency, Afghanistan now faces regular attacks tied to ISIS militants and the danger posed by unexploded ordnance.

A total of 3,498 civilians were killed and 7,920 were wounded in conflicts there in 2016 — a combined increase of three percent over the previous year — U.N. investigators said.

The casualties included 923 dead children, a 25 percent rise on the previous highest-recorded figure.

Image: People driven from their homes by violence sit in front of a tent
People driven from their homes by violence sit in front of a tent in Enjil, Afghanistan. JALIL REZAYEE / EPA

Airstrikes, including some carried out by U.S. warplanes, accounted for 250 deaths and 340 injuries — double the 2015 figure and the highest since 2009.

Anti-government forces, mainly the Taliban, were responsible for almost two-thirds of the overalls deaths while pro-government forces were responsible for almost one quarter, the U.N. said.

According to The Associated Press, U.S. officials have only acknowledged possible civilian casualties in one incident in Kunduz province in November, when the U.N. said as many as 32 noncombatants were killed in a joint U.S.-Afghan raid.

Yamamoto condemned what he called “yet another record year of civilian suffering.”

[Source:- nbcnews]

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Education

Indian students in the US at record high

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Indian women listening to a presentation

The number of Indian students studying in the US soared by 25% to a record high, figures from 2015-2016 show.

The 2016 Open Doors data says Indian students contribute more than $5.5bn (£4.4bn) to the American economy.

It comes against the backdrop of a steep decline in Indian students opting for the UK, with one estimate citing a 50% drop in four years.

Analysts say tougher visa rules in the UK and the stabilisation of the rupee against the dollar explain the trend.

A total of 165,918 Indians are now studying in the US, up from 132,888 in 2014-15, the report says. It is released by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The report says India accounted for the largest growth in students in the US for the second year in a row, primarily at the “graduate and optional practical training” levels.

Students from China, India and Saudi Arabia now account for more than half of the million-plus foreign students in the US.

China remained the country with the largest number of students in US, with almost twice the number of students as India.

“But India’s rate of growth and absolute increases outpaced China’s,” the report said.

“With the stabilising of the rupee against the dollar over the past couple of years, Indian students who had put their plans on hold were then able to come to the US,” Rajika Bhandari, deputy vice-president for research and evaluation at IIE, told the Mint newspaper.

“Lastly, the tightening of policies in the UK might have diverted some of the Indian students who would have studied there to the US instead.”

Earlier this year an all-party parliamentary group in the UK said Britain’s immigration strategy was costing the country its share of the valuable international student market.

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

GCSE results show record decline

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

This year’s GCSE results have shown the biggest ever year-on-year decline – down to the lowest level since 2008.

The overall proportion of entries achieving A* to C has declined from 69% to 66.9%. Top A* grades have slipped from 6.6% to 6.5%.

This has been blamed on more pupils in England being required to resit English and maths.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said 17-year-olds who had successfully retaken these GCSEs now had “better prospects”.

Impact of retakes

The results of more than five million GCSE entries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been published.

This year’s combined figures show a sharp decline in the proportion of grades A* to C and smaller falls in top A* and A grades.

Exams Wimbledon

Prof Alan Smithers, director of the University of Buckingham’s Centre for Education and Employment Research, said the 2.1 percentage points decline was the biggest drop in A*-C grades since GCSEs were introduced in the late 1980s.

This has been driven by a fall in grades in England – as Northern Ireland’s results improved and results in Wales remained stable.

  • In England, the proportion of A* to C grades fell from 68.8% last year to 66.6%. Top A* grades were down from 6.6% to 6.4%.
  • In Northern Ireland the proportion of these good passes increased slightly to 79.1% and top A* grades rose to 9.3%.
  • In Wales, the level of A* to C passes remained at 66.6%, with A* grades rising slightly to 6.1%.

The fall in England has been attributed to a policy in England requiring resits in maths and English for 17-year-olds who did not make a C grade last year.

Even without these older pupils resitting exams, there has been a fall in the results of 16 year olds, with the proportion getting A* to C declining by 1.3% points.This year’s results were down for maths, English, history and geography.

And there were further falls in the numbers of pupils taking modern languages, with the British Council warning that entries for French had more than halved in the past two decades.

The National Union of Teachers said the decline in modern languages was exacerbated by the “difficulty many schools have in recruiting qualified language teachers”.

Gender gap

The gender gap has widened further – with 71.3% of entries by girls getting a C grade or above compared with 62.4% of boys.

There has been a continuing reduction in the number of pupils taking GCSEs a year early, down by about a quarter compared with last year.

League tables now only count the first time a pupil sits an exam, discouraging entries by younger pupils.

This will be the last year before the start of a major change in how GCSEs are graded in England and how school performance is measured.

A revised set of GCSE exams are going to be graded by numbers – from 9 down to 1 – rather than the current letter-based system in a process that will be phased in from next year.

There will also be a new way of assessing schools in England, to be introduced later this year, called Progress 8, which will measure how much progress pupils make in secondary schools, rather than their raw results.

Russell Hobby, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “GCSE results day is a nervous time for all, as much depends on these grades.

“2016 is worse than ever in this regard as the results are so unpredictable following wave after wave of over hasty changes. Such overwhelming change introduces mistakes and makes it hard to sustain a calm focus on teaching,” said Mr Hobby.England’s School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said he was “pleased to see that there are more GCSEs being taken in the core academic subjects, those that give students a wider range of opportunities.

“And for those 17-year-olds who have struggled to achieve good grades in maths, we are seeing 4,000 more successful re-takes of those exams; delivering better prospects for every one of those young people.‎”

Kirsty Williams, Education Secretary in Wales, said: “This year’s GCSEs show another strong performance with two thirds of our learners achieving at least A*-C and an increase in the top grades.”

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

Record university offers as top A-level grades slip

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Record numbers of UK university places have been offered – as A-level results show a marginal fall in top grades for the fifth successive year.

The proportion of A* and A grades was 25.8%, down by 0.1% on last year. The pass rate of 98.1% remained the same.

The Ucas admissions services says 424,000 places have been offered, up by 3% on results day last year.

There are predictions of many places still being available through clearing, including in leading universities.

Universities say this year could be a “buyer’s market” for applications with universities competing to attract students.

As well as the removal of the cap on university places in England, there is a decline in the number of 18 year olds.

Clearing

There are more university places on offer through clearing this year.

This is the process which matches students with available places, after results have been published.

By this afternoon there had been more than 200,000 course searches on the Ucas website, with economics, law, psychology, business and nursing among the most popular courses.

There also places available at some leading Russell Group universities, including Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Warwick.

Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial UCL and LSE continue not to take part.

Sheffield University says its clearing service took 1,800 calls in the first two hours, leading to 360 offers.

“There’s never been a better year to be applying to university in terms of your chances of getting a place, said Sheffield’s head of admissions Lynsey Hopkins.

‘Unchanged’

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have found out their A-level and AS results on Thursday. Students in Scotland havealready received their exam results.

The A-level results show a stable pattern compared with last year.

Michael Turner, director general of the Joint Council for Qualifications, said: “Overall, outcomes are relatively unchanged.”

Girls continue to get better results than boys, with 79.7% of girls getting grades A* to C, compared with 75% for boys.

results dayImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionPupils have been arriving at schools and colleges to get their results

But the gap between top-performing girls and boys at A-level has narrowed.

And there has been a further decline in entries to modern languages, with the numbers taking French falling below 10,000 for the first time.

Malcolm Trobe, leader of the ASCL head teachers’ union, warned that this could reflect funding pressures and that schools could not afford subjects with small numbers of pupils.

AS levels are being “decoupled” from being part of A-levels – and this year’s figures show a 13.7% drop in entries.

Teachers and head teachers’ leaders have warned that, below the surface of this stability, individual schools and pupils face more unpredictable outcomes.

“Students and their teachers are bracing themselves for greater volatility in this year’s results,” said Ms Keates, leader of the NASUWT teachers’ union.

She said that schools had to contend with new content in AS and A-levels.

Head teachers’ leader Russell Hobby forecast “significant variation” and unexpected results, behind the picture given by the national statistics.

“For individual students, teachers and schools this is a real concern,” said Mr Hobby.

For those students who miss out on required grades for university, there are expected to be more opportunities available through the clearing system.

This will include leading universities within the Russell Group, which have signalled that they expect to have places on offer.

Apprenticeships

There is a demographic dip in the number of school leavers and the removal of any limit on student numbers in England means that universities could be competing to attract students to fill places.Media captionVice-Chancellor says raising teaching standards ‘entirely appropriate’

Middlesex University said this year would be a “buyer’s market”.

London South Bank University is running a 36-hours non-stop clearing service, remaining open all night for inquiries from students.

But students starting at England’s universities in the autumn could face higher fees than the previous cap of £9,000 before they finish.

Exeter University has announced that it is going to increase fees to £9,250 for current students and those beginning this year, as well as those starting in 2017.

There will also be opportunities for those not going to university, with financial services firm PwC announcing that it has had a 20% increase in two years in recruiting directly from those leaving school with A-levels.

A report from Barclays and the Centre for Economics and Business Researchhas argued that those entering apprenticeships after school could have much higher lifetime earnings than those going into graduate careers.

And a study from the Social Market Foundation, also released on results day, shows that vocational qualifications are an increasingly common route into university, often in combination with A-levels.

School standards minister Nick Gibb said: “We want to make our country a place where there is no limit on anyone’s ambition or what they can achieve.

“It is hugely encouraging that this year sees a record 424,000 applicants already securing a place at one of our world-class universities, with increasing numbers from disadvantaged backgrounds gaining a place as well. “

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

Record university offers now 3% higher than last year

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

A-level day at Westminster Kingsway College

The number of people offered places at UK universities has now hit a record 442,900 – 3% up on 2015, official figures show.

Around 19,000 of those have had their university and college places confirmed since midnight on A-level day, says the admissions service Ucas.

So far, over 14,000 have been accepted through clearing – 52% up on last year.

Association of Colleges Chief Executive Martin Doel urged people to take time to choose the right course for them.

A decline in the number of 18-year-olds and the removal of the cap which limits university places in England have contributed to “a buyer’s market” in university applications.

Ucas says clearing, the system which matches unfilled places with would-be-undergraduates without offers, opened two hours earlier than usual on results day with more places on offer.

‘Inundated’

And some leading Russell Group universities have been making greater use of the system.

Bristol University said places were being filled very quickly, adding that the newly competitive environment meant that “like all universities, we make use of clearing in ways that we wouldn’t have a few years ago”.

Birmingham University, which filled all its places on Thursday, said it had been “inundated” – with more than 6,000 calls for the small number of places available.

Ucas says high numbers are likely to be accepted through clearing over the weekend – with the majority of applicants using this route expected to find places by the end of Monday.

More than 153,000 people are still eligible to apply through clearing, says Ucas.

Mr Doel said young people should also consider “more affordable education and training routes available that can lead directly to a career” including higher level technical and professional courses and apprenticeships at further education colleges.

“Not only are tuition fees less at a college, living and travelling costs are also much lower because it’s possible to stay at home,” said Mr Doel.

The final date for university applications this year is 20 September.

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

Scots should question the SNP’s record in office

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 27: A general view of the Scottish Parliament on November 27, 2014 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lord Smith announced that the Scottish Parliament should have the power to set income tax rates and bands, he also said that a share of VAT should be distributed to parliament and air passenger duty fully devolved. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

On Thursday the people of Scotland will vote in elections for a new parliament at Holyrood. Few doubt that the outcome will see anything other than the triumphant return of the Scottish National party to power. Last May, the SNP’s landslide in the UK general election — securing 56 out of the 59 seats contested — illustrated its near total dominance of the political landscape north of the border. The latest opinion polls suggest Nicola Sturgeon’s party will romp home again.

Scotland’s first minister is one of the most accomplished performers in British politics, rarely putting a foot wrong in her media appearances. But given the SNP’s poor performance in government, it is puzzling that so many Scots still place their faith in her party.

The SNP’s record over the past nine years, first as a minority government and then in majority control, has been very weak. Scotland’s economy now underperforms the UK. In recent years, Scotland’s economic growth has generally lagged behind the rest of the UK, with GDP rising by only 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2015. Unemployment north of the border has risen to 6.2 per cent compared to 5.1 per cent across the UK as a whole.

The SNP’s stewardship of public services is also open to criticism. The party has cast itself as the defender of the National Health Service, but has not increased health spending by anything like as much as in England. On education, the most recent OECD figures show that the performance of Scottish children in reading and maths has worsened since 2003. The SNP’s centralisation of the eight regional constabularies to form Police Scotland has led to allegations of heavy handed policing across the country.

The SNP enjoys strong support in large part because identity politics have become the defining currency of discourse in Scotland. The governing party has eclipsed the once mighty Scottish Labour movement, stealing many of its left-leaning policies while also rejecting Labour’s commitment to unionism. The Scottish Conservatives, under their impressive young leader Ruth Davidson, are rising in the polls and may even come second this week. But on 20 per cent of the vote, the Scottish Tories are still a long way from challenging for government.

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Tech Update

Software Flaws Used in Hacking More Than Double, Setting Record

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Illustration file picture shows a man typing on a computer keyboard in Warsaw

The number of previously unknown software flaws used by hackers more than doubled last year, a new report says, in another sign of the increasing sophistication of cybercrime and online espionage.

Secret vulnerabilities in computer programs are especially prized by criminal gangs, law enforcement and spies because software vendors have not been warned and so cannot publish fixes.

In 2015, 54 such holes came to light and were deployed by hackers, according to a report published on Monday by the largest security software vendor, Symantec Corp. That is up dramatically from 24 the year before and 23 the year before that; the next-highest total over the past 10 years was 15 in 2007.

Symantec’s total of “zero-day” or unknown vulnerabilities includes both flaws that were discovered because they were used by top-flight hackers who left tracks and those that were revealed to the public at the same time as the software maker.

In 2015, electronic files named “Hacking Team” were dumped on the Internet, including six zero-days that criminals quickly made use of.

Thousands of other flaws were identified as usual last year by vendors, outside researchers, and government agencies. The vendors develop and issue patches, either announcing the flaws or pointing to them by virtue of the fixes.

Since criminals and others immediately take advantage of flaws to reach into unfixed machines, users must patch rapidly and completely or face being hacked.

Though most attacks happen because of inadequate patching, the rapid spread of new flaws through “exploit kits” sold in underground forums has allowed zero-days to be obtained by more people, including those installing ransomware and programs for stealing financial logins.

Four of the five most-used zero-day vulnerabilities last year were in Adobe Systems Inc’s Flash software, which can be used as a standalone program or a plug-in for various Web browsers, not all of which automatically update with Flash patches. Symantec said it expected Flash to become less popular as platforms stop supporting it, making it less of a bonanza for hackers.

Adobe said it had improved its security response. “Flash Player is one of the most ubiquitous and widely distributed pieces of software in the world, and as such, is a target of malicious hackers,” the company said via email.

“With regards to zero-days, we’ve been able to expedite the patching process to just days.”

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Tech Update

Software Flaws Used in Hacking More Than Double, Setting Record

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

The number of previously unknown software flaws used by hackers more than doubled last year, a new report says, in another sign of the increasing sophistication of cybercrime and online espionage.

Secret vulnerabilities in computer programs are especially prized by criminal gangs, law enforcement and spies because software vendors have not been warned and so cannot publish fixes.

Illustration file picture shows a man typing on a computer keyboard in Warsaw
A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. 

In 2015, 54 such holes came to light and were deployed by hackers, according to a report published on Monday by the largest security software vendor, Symantec Corp. That is up dramatically from 24 the year before and 23 the year before that; the next-highest total over the past 10 years was 15 in 2007.

Symantec’s total of “zero-day” or unknown vulnerabilities includes both flaws that were discovered because they were used by top-flight hackers who left tracks and those that were revealed to the public at the same time as the software maker.

In 2015, electronic files named “Hacking Team” were dumped on the Internet, including six zero-days that criminals quickly made use of.

Thousands of other flaws were identified as usual last year by vendors, outside researchers, and government agencies. The vendors develop and issue patches, either announcing the flaws or pointing to them by virtue of the fixes.

Since criminals and others immediately take advantage of flaws to reach into unfixed machines, users must patch rapidly and completely or face being hacked.

Though most attacks happen because of inadequate patching, the rapid spread of new flaws through “exploit kits” sold in underground forums has allowed zero-days to be obtained by more people, including those installing ransomware and programs for stealing financial logins.

Four of the five most-used zero-day vulnerabilities last year were in Adobe Systems Inc’s Flash software, which can be used as a standalone program or a plug-in for various Web browsers, not all of which automatically update with Flash patches. Symantec said it expected Flash to become less popular as platforms stop supporting it, making it less of a bonanza for hackers.

Adobe said it had improved its security response. “Flash Player is one of the most ubiquitous and widely distributed pieces of software in the world, and as such, is a target of malicious hackers,” the company said via email.

“With regards to zero-days, we’ve been able to expedite the patching process to just days.”

[Source:- Nbcnews]

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Gadgets News

GIONEE MARATHON M5: Affordable Smartphone with record-breaking battery life

by admin
written by admin

INTRODUCTION:

                Gionee is a consumer electronics giant in China. Headquartered at China, Gionee has the majority of its customer base in China. Only a few years ago did it decide to expand its market to the rest of the world. And amongst many of its foreign targets, India was seen as a potential revenue generator by Gionee. This made the company produce a Made in India series of Gionee launched one of its best mobiles, the Gionee Marathon M5 in India at Bangalore. This smartphone was available for sale exclusively on Flipkart at the time of release. One unique marketing fact about this phone is that it did not promote its phone through any sort of pre-registration openings or flash sale offers. The most talked about feature and undoubtedly the best too was the magnificent 6020 mAh battery capacity it offered. And for the price at which this phone offers this battery specification is surely a reasonable bargain. So, now let us discuss in more depth in this Gionee Marathon M5’s detailed review about its pros and cons.

itech2

LAUNCH PRICE & DATE:

                   Gionee Marathon M5 was brought into light with its announcement during the month of June 2015. And, finally, it was released in November 2015. At the time of its release, the Price of Gionee Marathon M5 is INR 17,999/-.

DESIGN & DIMENSIONS:

                   Gionee Marathon M5 comes with an outer casing made of a really durable and sturdy material which has both plastic and metal proportionately. This gives it a very solid look and another point to be noticed is that it has carefully made sure the phone is not too bulky by making it pretty slim and sleek. The smartphone has a thickness of just 8.55 mm. It has a length of 152 mm and a breadth of 76 mm. But the most problematic part of this smartphone is its weight. Because it has really enormous battery it is forced to weigh a good 211g. This can be quite a hindrance for carrying around. It comes in three different colours White, Gold and Black.

DISPLAY:

                 This Smartphone is made of AMOLED display. It comes in a phablet size of 5.5 inches. It has a capacitive type touch screen which functions smoothly with the multi-touch feature. The resolution of the display is 720 x 1280 pixels. It has an approximate screen to body ratio of 72 %. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Also, the touch interface is supported by Amigo 3.1. It has a pixel density of 267 ppi.

OS & PROCESSOR:

                 This Smartphone uses the Android OS v 5.1 (Lollipop). Also, it is supported by the Amigo 3.1 interface. This interface gives it a quicker and smoother functioning. The chipset used in this Smartphone is the MediaTek MT6735. The processing is carried out by a Quad Core processor functioning at an average speed of 1.3 GHz.

STORAGE SPECS:

                  This Smartphone comes with a 32 GB internal storage capacity. The storage can be extended with the aid of a microSD card up to 128 GB. For any average user, the internal storage that this smartphone offers is more than enough. But for the extremely heavy user, it still provides an option to expand its storage. It also comes with a pretty good RAM memory of around 3 GB. So, it is an ideal phone for all gamers out there.

BATTERY CAPACITY:

                   The most highlighting feature of this phone is its extraordinary battery life. This Smartphone comes with a 6020 mAh battery capacity. This not – removable Li – Po battery is the best amongst all Smartphone batteries currently. This battery provides a stand by time of up to 684 h while on 2G mode and up to 557 h on 3G mode. Its talk time extends up to a maximum of 62 h while on 2G and up to 28 h on 3G. In layman terms, this phone is predicted to last up to 4 days at a stretch.

itech3

MULTIMEDIA:

               Camera: This Smartphone has a back camera with 13MP clarity and a front camera of around 5 MP clarity. The back camera is enhanced by technical features like an aperture of f/2.0 and an LED flash. Other supportive features are Geo-tagging, smile detection, HDR, autofocus and panorama.

               Audio: It supports various ringtone and audio formats like MP3, WAV, Vibration and MIDI. It comes with below average speakers. It comes with a fully compatible FM radio option too.

               Video: The back camera records good quality videos at a resolution of 1080p. These videos are captured at 30 fps. The various video formats supported are MP4, H.263 and H.264.

CONNECTIVITY:

               This phone comes with compatibility for two sim cards. Both the sim cards are of the micro sim type. One of them has both GSM and CDMA connectivity feature. While the other sim works only on GSM network. Both the sims are compatible with 3G, 4G and also 4G in India (band 40). It also other standard wireless connectivity features like the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It operates on Bluetooth v4.0.

QUICK OVERVIEW:

              Score: Gionee Marathon M5 has earned a feature score of  86 on Pricejugaad.com. This is a pretty good score and easily one of the better phones in this price range.

              Features: The major advantages of this Smartphone are amazing battery life, good RAM memory and reasonable built. The disadvantages though are its weight, low display quality.

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Gadgets News

Samsung Flags Mobile Weakness as Chips Power Record Q1 Profit

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Samsung Flags Mobile Weakness as Chips Power Record Q1 Profit

Samsung Electronics said weakness in the global smartphone market would slow earnings growth, as it reported record quarterly profit on Thursday thanks to strong demand for semiconductors used in servers.

The world’s biggest maker of memory chips, smartphones and television sets also flagged softer demand for smartphone OLED panels as a challenge for the second quarter, while its cash-cow chip business should remain strong.

“Generating overall earnings growth across the company will be a challenge due to weakness in the display panel segment and a decline in profitability in the mobile business amid rising competition in the high-end segment,” Samsung said in a statement. In the display panel segment, which manufactures OLED and LCD screens, profits were affected by slow demand for flexible OLED panels and greater competition between rigid OLED and LTPS LCD.

Samsung Electronics shares were up 3 percent as of 0040 GMT, while the KOSPI benchmark share price index was 0.9 percent higher, as investors shrugged off concerns about the smartphone market and seized on the positive outlook for memory chips.

“Shares are rising as Samsung Electronics’ outlook for its memory chip business appears more positive than we’ve heard from other companies,” said Greg Roh, analyst at HMC Investment & Securities.

South Korean rival SK Hynix and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) separately warned this month of slower growth in smartphone chip sales. TSMC, a key supplier for Apple’s iPhones, cut its revenue target last week.

But Samsung Electronics, a rival and supplier to Apple, forecast continuing strong sales not only of server DRAMs but mobile DRAMs as well.

Demand for NAND chips used in mobile devices was also expected to be strong, it added, referring to the “high-density trend” for more powerful chips in the latest gadgets.

Samsung Electronics said operating profit was KRW 15.6 trillion ($14.4 billion) in the first quarter, up 58 percent from a year ago and in line with the KRW 15.6 trillion the company had estimated. Revenue jumped 19.8 percent to KRW 60.6 trillion, also in line with its estimate.

The chip business was Samsung’s top earner again as it booked a record KRW 11.6 trillion operating profit in January-March, from KRW 10.9 trillion in the previous quarter, despite signs the recent boom in memory chips was tapering off.

The mobile business booked KRW 3.8 trillion in quarterly profit, up 82 percent from a year ago.

Samsung has shipped about 10 million units of its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone since sales began in mid-March, in what analysts said was a solid showing. Strong sales of the Galaxy S8 smartphone from last year despite the early release of its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone showed that consumers are not enthusiastic about upgrading their phones to the latest products.

According to market research firm GfK, global smartphone demand fell two percent to 347 million units in the first quarter of 2018. Demand was especially sluggish in China and North America, it said.

However, the average sales price grew 21 percent year-on-year in the quarter, leading to an 18 percent rise in global smartphone revenue year-on-year to $129.8 billion.

[“source=gadgets.ndtv”]

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