Strong sales of mobile devices boost tech giant to post record-high
8.1 trillion won profit in Q3


Samsung Electronics said Friday that it expected a record-high operating profit of 8.1 trillion won ($7.23 billion) during the third quarter of 2012, up 90.5 percent over the same period last year.

While the electronic behemoth has yet to unveil performances by the business sector, analysts say its noteworthy earnings are mainly attributable to brisk sales of high-end mobile devices despite patent disputes with Apple.

The flagship unit of Samsung Group also saw its quarterly sales reach an all-time high of 52 trillion won in the July-September period, up 26 percent on a year-on-year basis.

Both sales and operating profit of the company exceeded earlier estimates from the stock brokerage industry. The average figures predicted by analysts at 26 major securities firms were 51.57 trillion won in sales and 7.56 trillion won in profit.

“Robust shipments of smartphones including the Galaxy S3 and the successful launching of the Galaxy Note 2 phablet led Samsung Electronics to estimate a consensus-beating result,” an analyst said.

He said shipments of the Galaxy S3 were estimated at 18 million units for the third quarter, while smartphone shipments and overall mobile device shipments were projected to reach 59 million and 106 million units, respectively.

Most brokerage firms forecast that its mobile business is likely to continue its boom over the next several quarters as the global mobile device market is still expanding, especially in emerging markets.

But its semiconductor and home appliance sectors were estimated to post worse-than-expected earnings, according to some analysts.

Their estimate is based on the situation that DRAM prices have dropped and TV sales growth slowed down in major overseas markets.

Meanwhile, the company has set a business target of reaping 20 trillion won in operating profit in 2013 from IT and mobile divisions with its cell phones as a core item.

Its aim for next year is to gain stronger market influence of core products. “There could be a slight change in our goal, but we expect a 20 trillion won profit in IT & Mobile communication divisions with handsets as the key item,” a Samsung spokesman said.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)