Samsung reports revenue increase on heels of higher mobile phone sales

Samsung Electronics reported Wednesday a sharp increase in consolidated revenue for the first quarter thanks to strong sales of its new smartphones, but its semiconductor business suffered a setback.

The South Korean semiconductor and smartphone giant said in a statement that it posted 79.14 trillion won ($56 billion) in consolidated revenue for the January-March quarter, calling it an all-time quarterly high. It said its operating profit rose to 6.7 trillion won ($4.7 billion), up from 6.61 trillion won ($4.6 billion) in the same period last year.