A surge in Galaxy smartphone sales fuelled earnings at Samsung Electronics to a record high in the first quarter, usually a tough season for the global consumer electronics industry, outshining handset rivals such as Nokia.
Samsung sold more smartphones in the first three months of the year than Apple and raked in more than 70% of its operating profit from mobile businesses. Shares in Samsung shot up nearly 3%.
Net profit nearly doubled from a year earlier to a record 5.05 trillion won (£2.75bn) for the quarter to 31 March.
Operating profit also hit a record high, at 5.85 trillion won, which was in line with expectations. Sales rose 22% from a year earlier to 45.3tn won.
Strong demand for high-end smartphones, such as the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S2 introduced last year, helped mask lower profit from memory chips, another Samsung flagship business.
"It was a shock for semiconductor, a surprise for handset," said Lee Ka-keun, a Seoul-based analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.
The Suwon, Korea-based company expects to outdo its record profit in the coming quarters. It will announce a new version of the Galaxy phone next week and global demand for personal computers is picking up, bringing more cash to memory chip-makers.... Source/Origin >> Read More
