Samsung sales surge
October 4, 2013
Samsung's operating profit between July and September surged to 10.1 trillion won (6.9 billion euros, $9.4 billion), representing an increase of 25 percent from the same period a year earlier, the South Korean technology giant said in an earnings guidance released Friday.
Sales in the quarter were expected to reach 59 trillion won - up 13 percent from the same period last year. The world's largest technology firm by revenue didn't provide a net profit figure or a breakdown of results in its business units.
However, analysts estimated that Samsung shipped between 85 million and 89 million smartphones in the third quarter, posting yet another rise in sales from 76 million in the second quarter of this year.
Smartphone sales were significantly higher in the developing world where the firm's mid- and low-end handsets enjoyed robust demand, market research firm IDC said. But sales of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 model were expected to plunge as global high-end smartphone markets rapidly saturate, the analysts added.
Memory chips rebound
Samsung appears set for a second consecutive year of record earnings as a rebound in the firm's semiconductor business increasingly adds to the overall result in 2013.
The global chip market has rallied since late 2012, boosting Samsung's semiconductor earnings to a three-year high in the third quarter of this year.
Sales of Samsung computers and flat-screen TV sets, however, remained tepid.
uhe/pfd (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)