Samsung's Q1 profit gets boost from S7

Seoul

SAMSUNG Electronics Co's first-quarter profit benefited from the early release of its newest smartphones, yet investors are wondering whether the industry is running out of steam as it seeks a new hit product.

Samsung priced the Galaxy S7 below its predecessor and also fixed criticisms of the earlier model to capture customers between new product releases by Apple Inc. That helped the South Korean company withstand the impact of a global smartphone slowdown that hit prices at its semiconductor and display businesses.

Still, there's growing concern that Samsung, Apple and the rest of the industry will struggle to come up with a new must-have product that will entice consumers to replace their devices, which have become the nexus of…