It was no surprise to see Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest maker of memory chips and smartphones, post a more than 40 percent increase in its first quarter net profit on the back of brisk shipments of its flagship Galaxy lineup.

Net profit reached 7.15 trillion won ($6.44 billion), up from the 5.05 trillion won in the previous quarter a year earlier, the company said on Friday.

On the same day, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong and his fellow executives met with Google CEO Larry Page. The latter expressed his interest in Samsung manufactured organic light emitting diode technology, quashing rumors of bad blood between the two.

Samsung’s mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun also mentioned “new cooperation” being underway.

Google, whose Android OS powers Samsung’s smart devices, is now a manufacturer of handsets. Page was reportedly asked to tour Samsung Display’s OLED plant for further review.

Samsung is currently dominant in the small and mid-sized OLED panel segment.

Research data from Strategic Analytics showed that smartphones had driven Samsung’s stellar first quarter performance, as the electronics firm had shipped a record 69.4 million handsets in the first quarter, compared with the 63 million shipped in the previous quarter.

Samsung’s stake in the global market now stands at over one-third, the data showed. Apple ― Samsung’s largest smart device rival ― on the other hand, saw its smartphone market share sink to 17.9 percent from over 22 percent after shipping 37.4 million handsets from the first quarter of last year.

“Samsung shipped almost two times more smartphones and grew nine times faster than Apple during the quarter,” Neil Mawston, a Strategy Analytics analyst, said in the statement.

Semiconductors also helped buoy the bottom line for Samsung, but the company’s display panel business suffered on the decline in demand for large-sized LCD. The unit nevertheless posted in the black thanks to the expanded sales of OLED products.

By Kim Ji-hyun  (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)