Smartphones power Samsung to record Q4 profit SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips and smartphones, reported a record quarterly profit on Friday, aided by one-off gains and best-ever sales of high-end phones. Samsung is also weathering a squeeze on its bread-and-butter memory chip business with new revenue sources such as mobile processing chips and high-end OLED displays. The South Korean firm posted on Friday 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in quarterly operating profit, beating a consensus forecast of 4.7 trillion won by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It said actual profit may rise or fall by 200 billion won from the preliminary figure when the firm provides detailed earnings later this month. "Samsung has traditionally seen its first-quarter profit drop from the fourth quarter, but profit will hold up well, reaching between 4.5 trillion won and 5.0 trillion won, with smartphone sales expected to rise further," said Song Jong-ho, an analyst at Daewoo Securities. Samsung only entered the smartphone market in earnest in 2010, but its handset division is now its biggest earnings generator. Sales have skyrocketed thanks to a slick production system that rapidly brings new products to market and has mitigated weakness in its component business of mainly memory chips and flat screens. Samsung shares eased on Friday, falling 1.8 percent by 0310 GMT, after charging to a record 1.11 million won earlier this week in anticipation of an upbeat forecast. The company is Asia's most valuable technology firm with a market value of around $150 billion . In 2012 it is expected to sell as many as 170 million smartphones, according to BNP Paribas and Korea Investment & Securities, the most bullish street view, from an estimated 95 million last year, powered by a diverse product portfolio that spans high-end Galaxy models to cheap phones using Samsung's own "bada" software. "As expectations for Apple to continue its innovation trail is receding a bit, this will be the year when Samsung solidifies its commanding lead in the smartphone market," said Kim Yun-sang, a fund manager at IBK Asset Management, which owns Samsung stock. Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Iktae Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Alex Richardson