UPDATE 1-Samsung sees DRAM shipments up 10-15 pct in '09

* Figures in line with estimates made in April

* Analysts offer slightly stronger forecasts

* Samsung says recovery "still uncertain"

SEOUL, May 11 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips, on Monday said it expects shipments of DRAM memory chips to grow by 10 to 15 percent and NAND flash chips to grow by 25 to 30 percent.

Samsung (005930.KS) executives in April had said they expected global shipments of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, widely used in personal computers, to rise by a "low-teens" percentage in 2009.

In October of 2008, the company had forecast DRAM shipments would rise by a mid-forties percentage in 2009.

In a presentation document made available online, Samsung also said it expected shipments of NAND flash chips, used in electronic gadgets, to grow by 25 to 30 percent in 2009.

The memory chip sector, which has undergone a brutal, two-year downturn, is showing signs of life this year after major players made steep production cuts.

Despite caution over the risk of overproduction, analysts had more bullish forecasts for the sector.

"Samsung's estimates are on the slightly low side," said Jay Kim, an analyst at Hyundai Securities. Kim forecast a DRAM shipment growth percentage in the high-teens, while he expected NAND flash chip shipments to grow by up to 35 percent.

"There is room for flash prices to go up, which in turn should raise utilisation rates, and demand doesn't look bad," Kim said.

James Song, an analyst at Daewoo Securities, said DRAM shipments would rise by 15 to 20 percent and NAND flash shipments by about 30 percent.

"We expect an improvement in the market in the second half, with a peak in the third quarter," Song said.

"Several indexes show signs of bottoming out," Samsung said in its presentation document, before adding: "But the upturn period for the semiconductor market is still difficult to predict."

Samsung said it would strengthen its technological leadership in order to increase market share and maximise profit.

"This crisis is a golden opportunity for Samsung," the presentation document concluded.

(Reporting by Marie-France Han and Kim Yeon-hee; editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Chris Lewis)