Samsung Electronics Co has outspent rivals on improving its products, becoming the world's top maker of flat-panel displays, No 2 in chips after Intel Corp, and third in mobile phones. The spending spree will enable the South Korean company to recover from a profit slump, investors are betting. Samsung may post a 42% drop in second-quarter profit, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News said. It had a similar decline in the first quarter, after a record profit in 2002. Investors, expecting a better second half, have driven the stock 43% higher in three months. "Samsung has continuously outspent its rivals in terms of capital expenditure and that is what's going to increase its competitiveness," said Lee Young Seog, who helps manage funds equal to $850M at Dongwon Investment in Seoul.
