Samsung Electronics, the world\'s largest technology firm by revenue, said on Friday its April-June net profit surged 49.7 percent from a year earlier to another record high. The South Korean company said net profit in the second quarter rose to 7.77 trillion won ($6.96 billion) from 5.19 trillion won a year earlier. The sharp jump came on the back of robust shipments of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones and higher chip prices. Operating profit surged 47.5 percent on-year to 9.53 trillion won in the same period as sales grew 20.7 percent on-year to 57.46 trillion won. \"Entering into a typically strong season for the IT industry, we expect earnings to continue to increase. However, we cannot overlook delayed economic recovery in Europe and risks from increased competition for smartphone and other set products,\" said Robert Yi, Senior Vice President and Head of Investor Relations. \"We expect to improve profit yields in the second half due to high-margin, differentiated components products, as well as gains stemming from increased smartphone and TV shipments.\"