Despite increased pressure on its smartphone business, Samsung is predicted to report a 21% year-on-year increase in second quarter revenue, and an 15% boost to operating profit, to hit RKW14.5 trillion ($11.1bn), according to a consensus of Seoul market analysts. Strong sales of memory chips will be the biggest factor in delivering Samsung’s best Q2 profit since 2018, and the continuing pivot towards silicon in the Korean giant’s business was highlighted by a progress report on its foundry business, which will start production of chips at the 3-nanometer geometry this year. That 3nm news demonstrated how successfully Samsung has chased TSMC, the world’s largest foundry, over the past five years or so, in technology terms, getting to the…