Hopes that the global technology sector will outlive the pre-Christmas shopping season flared up as Samsung Electronics and Panasonic gave robust outlooks on improving demand and cost cuts.
The strong showing from other Asian technology groups such as Sharp and Acer, as well as Sony's reduced annual loss outlook, provided further ammunition for bullish technology investors, rounding out the industry's relatively upbeat quarterly earnings.
"In the global IT sector, the recovery next year will be led by sectors that suffered most this year, such as personal computers. The strongest recovery will be in memory chips," said Mirae Asset Securities analyst Lee Hak-Moo. "LCD televisions have done well this year and its performance in 2010 won't stand out so much."
"It's very clear now that demand is back," said Acer chief executive Gianfranco Lanci. "We're starting to see replacement activity increasing even from companies."
Samsung signalled that the bigger players are set to further widen the gap over smaller firms in a recovery of the sector.
Samsung has made a spectacular turnaround this year, grabbing market share from the likes of Sony, which reported a loss for the fourth consecutive quarter on Friday.
"I don't see any risk in Samsung's competitiveness and there's zero chance supplies will rise significantly," said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities. "But the macroeconomy remains a factor - demand may weaken once stimulus plans are removed."
Samsung reported a record quarterly net profit thanks to resurgent sales.
Sony's earnings were hit by sluggish cellphone sales and the lower retail prices of its PlayStation 3 game consoles.
Sony's cellphone joint venture with Ericsson saw its sales tumble and losses balloon as it has lacked a strong smartphone offering to rival the iPhone and Blackberry.
Sony executives were cautious on the near-term outlook. "We cannot help but be cautious about the year-end shopping season," Sony chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda said.
Panasonic lifted its full-year operating profit forecast by 60 percent and posted a first profit in three quarters on robust sales.
Sharp posted its first quarterly profit in a year, but overall sales dropped by 15 percent.
Toshiba said its semiconductor operations sprang back to a quarterly profit. - Reuters
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