Wall Street Beat: Some companies shine amid gloom

When Samsung Electronics, a giant in chips, mobile phones and LCD panels, reported earnings on Friday, it noted worsening business conditions and said its results could have been better were it not for falling demand for IT products and the general slowdown in the global economy.

Other companies, including Samsung's biggest rival in South Korea, LG Electronics, as well as U.S. technology giants Google, Microsoft and Texas Instruments, have also noted more difficult business conditions. High energy prices have sent the price of gas, electricity and other necessities soaring, crimping consumer demand. And people everywhere are feeling the effects of the credit crisis.

But considering Samsung posted a 51 percent year-on-year net profit increase, perhaps the company was talking about its rivals feeling the economic pain, and didn't mean itself.

Qimonda AG, for example, a competitor of Samsung's in the DRAM market, reported a net loss of €401 million (US$628.7 million) in the quarter ending June 30, its fifth straight quarterly loss. Qimonda blamed a 45 percent decline in average selling prices, in part, for the loss.

The DRAM market has been in the doldrums since late last year amid a glut of the chips, and most companies in the sector have been posting massive losses.

Not Samsung. The world's largest DRAM maker reported a slim 270 billion Korean won (US$268.4 million) profit in its chip division. Although the division includes more than just memory chips, memory makes up the bulk of Samsung's chip sales.

The South Korean giant also improved in mobile phones. Samsung sold 45.7 million handsets in the second quarter, up 22 percent compared to the same time last year. The company has been widening its lead over Motorola ever since snatching second place from the U.S. company in the third quarter of last year.

Judging by Motorola's stock price, few people expect it to make a comeback anytime soon. Motorola's stock fell to US$7.15 per share on Thursday, down 55 percent so far this year. The company will report second quarter earnings next Thursday.

Amazon.com is another company shining amid the downturn and company executives feel the economic troubles are actually helping it against competitors.

"We suspect that higher fuel prices may be a relative advantage for us," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said during a conference call with analysts on Wednesday. "Even just driving 10 miles these days is a few dollars worth of gasoline and consumers we suspect are beginning to take that into account."

Amazon's free shipping offers and Amazon Prime are more valuable to customers because of that, he said. Amazon will continue to work to make free shipping offers economical and "we have clearly no intention of changing those.

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