Samsung faces tougher challenges ahead despite record profits: analysts

Seoul

SPRAWLING South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics has recovered from a humiliating recall fiasco and the arrest of its de facto leader with remarkable speed, analysts said, after the tech giant stunned investors with record-breaking profits.

But the world's top smartphone maker, one of the huge family-run chaebols which dominate the South Korean economy, will be confronted by tougher challenges in the future as Chinese rivals take aim at its semiconductor business and questions emerge over the firm's leadership.