Samsung Elec sees PC chip recovery, strong phone sales

The profit margin in the LCD business would break above the 20 percent range in 2008, he said. The division posted a 17 percent operating profit margin in the third quarter.

Bert Park, senior vice president of LCD marketing, said the supply situation should be even tighter in 2008 than in 2007.

Samsung said it expected the market for TV panels to rise 32 percent in unit terms, driven by 68 percent year-on-year growth in panels sizes 40 inches and higher.

Overall, Samsung hopes to reach an operating profit of about $20 billion on a consolidated basis by 2012, with sales expected to reach $150 billion, Chu said.

Samsung had previously predicted that it would post on a consolidated basis sales of $100 billion in 2007.

He said Samsung was betting on non-memory semiconductors and on the printer market as its next growth engines.

(Additional reporting by Jessica Kim; Editing by Sei Chong & Louise Heavens)