YEREVAN, JULY 31, ARMENPRESS. South Korean Samsung Electronics Co. reported a bigger-than-expected fall in second quarter profit. The profits fell 20% in the second quarter, hurt mainly by a slowdown in smartphone sales and a strong Korean currency, reports “Armenpress”, in reference to BBC.

It made a net profit of 6.25 trillion won ($ 6.1 billion) in the April-to-June period, down from 7.77 trillion won a year ago.

Samsung is the world's biggest maker of mobile phones and the handset division accounts for the bulk of its profits.

"The second quarter was affected by several factors including the slow global sales of smartphones and tablets and escalating marketing expenditure to reduce inventory," the firm said in a statement.

Various other smartphone makers including China's Xiaomi, Huawei and ZTE have been increasing their market share steadily.

That has forced manufacturers to cut costs of their devices in an attempt to attract consumers, hurting their profitability.

Operating profit at Samsung's phone division fell 31% during the April-to-June period, from the previous three months.

The firm also warned that "prospects for growth remain unclear as competition over global market share intensifies in the mobile industry".