SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. has posted record operating profit for the last quarter with robust demand for its mainstay memory chips compensating for a slowdown in its smartphone business.

The South Korean technology giant on Wednesday said its operating profit during the July-September quarter grew at nearly a 21 percent annual pace to 17.6 trillion won ($15.4 billion).

Samsung's previous high in quarterly profit was the 15.6 trillion won it posted during the first quarter.

Third-quarter sales grew 5.5 percent year-on-year to reach 65.4 trillion won ($57 billion) while net income rose 17.5 percent to reach 13.1 trillion won ($11.5 billion).

Samsung says the operating profit of its chips division rose 37 percent year-on-year to 13.65 trillion won ($11.9 billion) thanks to strong demand generated by mobile devices and servers.