Samsung Electronics forecast on Friday an operating income of 9.9 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for the first quarter, recording a nearly 50 percent on-year jump.

The Korean tech giant estimated Friday it posted 50 trillion won in sales and 9.9 trillion won in operating income, 0.44 percent and 48.2 percent rises on-year. The operating profit is the second-highest profit total since the company recorded 10 trillion won in the third quarter of 2013.

The earnings was driven by the company's chip unit, which is expected to record more than 6 trillion won in operating profit taking advantage of favorable market conditions.

Samsung's smartphone unit is estimated to post around 2 trillion won -- about half from the previous year -- due to the delayed launch of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S8. Samsung launched no new smartphone in the first quarter in wake of the battery explosion of the Note 7.

Analysts predicted the smartphone unit will recover in the following quarter when its flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 is rolled out, predicting operating income will post 3.5 trillion won.

The combined sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s new flagship Galaxy S8 series is expected to surpass the 40 million unit mark.