Jul. 1, 2009 (The Korea Times) -- By Kim Yoo-chul

Staff Reporter

The two Samsung Electronics CEOs have painted a positive picture for the country's economy.

Their remarks came on top of forecasts that the economy is bottoming out and will be recovering soon.

On Wednesday, Lee Yoon-woo, director of chips and LCD operations, said the electronics giant is seeing an opportunity for a faster turnaround in profits. Samsung Electronics is the key unit of Samsung Group.

"We are seeing the end of the tunnel with a recovery in prices of memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCD) becoming stable," he said in their start-of-the-month message to employees.

"We need to focus on maximizing efficiencies as the global market is heading into an up-cycle," he said.

Lee also urged employees to make the company's manufacturing more efficient than its rivals so as to post profits without the benefit of the weak won.

Samsung's chip and LCD units are expected to turn a profit in the second quarter as prices for the key components used in PCs and TVs have been increasing thanks to approaching seasonal factors and lowering inventories.

Meanwhile, Choi Gee-sung expects better days ahead for the group's mobile phone business.

Choi is leading the electronics unit's consumer division which in charge of manufacturing mobile phones, MP3 players and other smaller devices.

"The past six months were tough for us," Choi said. "Now we are prepared to narrow the gap with market leaders especially in the mobile phone market."

Samsung is second behind Nokia (NYSE:NOK) in the global handset market, and is pushing its high-end AM OLED mobile phones to better compete.

"Our steady efforts to introduce tech-featured new products will eventually pay off," he said.

Meanwhile, LG Electronics is forecast to see an "earnings surprise" in the second quarter helped by its impressive moves in mobile phones, while POSCO (NYSE:PKX) and Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group are also expected to post strong quarterly results.