Like so many other tech companies over the last year, Samsung has seen booming business during the coronavirus pandemic, and sales of its newest Galaxy smartphone are strong, driving profits 46 percent higher than the same period last year. However, as Samsung released its Q1 2021 earnings figures ( PDF ) showing a net profit of 7.1 trillion won (about $6.4 billion), the company warned investors that the next few months, and perhaps the rest of the year will see significant impact due to the global chip shortage. Samsung's sales of profitable DRAM memory chips remained strong. However the company said in a statement that production disruption at its Austin fab after the Texas ice storm and power outage in February contributed to lower sales for the chipmaking part of its business.