Samsung Q4 profit seen down; chips, LCD outlook eyed

* Q4 operating profit forecast at 3.2-3.4 trln won

* Focus on outlook for the battered chip, LCD sectors

* Strong smartphone, mobile chip sales to lift Q1 profit

By Miyoung Kim

SEOUL, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS), the world's top memory chipmaker, is expected to report its weakest profit in six quarters on Friday, as muted global demand for televisions and computers hits the prices of its mainstay chips and flat screens.

Samsung, also the world's top maker of flat screens and televisions and the second-biggest producer of handsets, is on average expected by analysts to have made an operating profit of 3.4 trillion won ($3.05 billion) in the last three months of 2010, unchanged on the same period of 2009, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S Estimates.

But earlier this month Samsung said it would post an operating profit of between 2.8 trillion won and 3.2 trillion won, the lowest since the second quarter of 2009. [ID:nL3E7C70AH]

And top analysts also expect profits to come in below the market average, at around 3.2 trillion won, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine, which weights individual analysts' forecasts according to their track record.

A more than 30 percent plunge in computer memory chip prices last quarter and steep price declines in flat-screens for TVs may have slashed profits and further weigh on Samsung's earnings in the first quarter, analysts said.

Samsung is emerging as a challenger to Apple (AAPL.O) with its Galaxy S high-end smartphone, powered by Google's (GOOG.O) Android software. Samsung's Galaxy Tab is also seen by some analysts as the strongest rival to Apple's iPad tablet. >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

SPECIAL REPORT on Samsung: r.reuters.com/cuz67r

LG, Apple results [ID:nTOE70O06L] [ID:nN18171874] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Samsung's earnings might recover later as the South Korean firm plans to roll out new smartphones and tablets, which will counter the impact of a slowdown in components such as chips and flat screens and help it narrow a gap with Apple (AAPL.O).

Samsung trails Nokia (NOK1V.HE) in mobile phones and competes with Sony Corp (6758.T) and LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) in TVs and Toshiba (6502.T) and Hynix (000660.KS) in semiconductors.

Shares in Samsung, whose $145 billion market value is now larger than Intel's (INTC.O) and Hewlett Packard's (HPQ.N), have risen 27 percent to record highs in the last three months, beating a 10 percent gain in the KOSPI .KS11. ($1=1115.0 won) (Editing by Anshuman Daga, Greg Mahlich)