SK Hynix Q1 net profit up 61% on-year

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix saw its net profit shoot up 61 percent on-year in the first quarter on strong demand for chips for new mobile devices, the company said Thursday.

Net profit for the January to March period hit 1.29 trillion won ($1.2 billion), while operating profit also jumped 50 percent from a year earlier to 1.06 trillion won.

Sales revenue was up 29 percent at 4.82 trillion won.

"Compared with a year earlier, demand for DRAMs, especially for those for new mobile devices, remained solid, bolstering both revenue and profits," a SK Hynix spokesman told AFP.

Demand for Apple's iPhone 6 models with larger screens helped boost orders, offsetting a decline in semiconductor prices and seasonal weaknesses that saw sales drop more than 6.0 percent from the previous quarter.

SK Hynix -- which is Apple's second largest chip supplier -- is one of the world's largest makers of memory chips used for personal computers, servers and mobile devices.