Winner & loser (April 8)

Winner

Samsung Electronics

, the world’s top smartphone maker, announced Friday that its estimated operating profit in the first quarter of this year was 8.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion), up 52.9 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts said strong sales in smartphones, supported by a comeback in memory chips sales, drove the growth despite seasonal stagnation in the electronics market. According to Counterpoint Research, a Hong Kong-based market research firm, the electronics giant is estimated to have sold 25 million smartphones each month this year, taking its quarterly sales to more than 70 million units.

Industry watchers showed confidence on the company’s second-quarter earnings, thanks to expected profits from its new flagship device Galaxy S4. Samsung unveiled the latest Galaxy at a New York launch in March and is set to release the new phone in Korea on April 25.

Loser

Top Korean automaker

Hyundai Motor

and its sister company

Kia Motors

said Thursday they will recall more than 2 million vehicles from the Korean and U.S. markets, due to problems with brake light switches and airbags.

To fix the brake light switch problem, Hyundai will recall Santa Fe, Tucson, Veracruz, Sonata sedans and Genesis Coupes in the U.S., whereas Kia is recalling Sorento and Soul models produced in Korea and the U.S. between 2007 and 2011.

Hyundai will separately recall Elantra compacts produced between 2011 and 2013 to fix the air bag problem. The massive recall came amid the world’s fifth-largest carmaker’s efforts to improve the quality of its products and, in the long run, to raise its brand image in the global market.