South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, Asia’s most valuable tech company and the world’s biggest maker of flat screens, has reported that it’s first quarter net profits were down 52 percent compared with last year at the same time, that its sales revenue was down 4.2 percent, and that its second-quarter earnings numbers were not expected to be much better.

Factors leading to this bad news were said to include weak pricing power, oversupply, and an unfavorable exchange rate. The company also took a hit over its bail out of the Samsung Card, it’s credit-card affiliate. It owns 47 percent of Samsung Card.

Besides being the leading flat screen producer, Samsung also is the world’s second-largest chipmaker and the third-largest mobile phone maker in the world. Other particulars in Samsung’s quarterly report were that operating profits in its liquid crystal display division were 97 percent lower and in its semiconductor business they fell by 22 percent as compared to last year.

Despite all this bad news, the company announced it was still optimistic about it’s long-term prospects.