Sales of smartphones drove net profits at South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co up to a record 7.77 trillion won ($ 6.96 billion) in the second quarter, an increase of almost 50 per cent year on year, the company said today.
Revenue at the world’s largest maker of memory chips, televisions and mobile phones rose 21 per cent to 57.46 trillion won.
Samsung said it expected growth in the smartphone market to continue in the third quarter “although at a slightly reduced pace.” Investors said the market is becoming saturated.
The sales of tablet computers was expected to remain stable.
Revenues for the quarter were 57.45 trillion won, another record, up 21 per cent from the same period in 2012.
Operating profit was 9.53 trillion won, an increase of 47.5 per cent.
The mobile computing and communications unit, which brings in around two thirds of the Company’s income, showed operating profits of 6.28 trillion won, up 52 per cent from a year earlier.
Samsung shipped an estimated 72.4 million smartphones in the second quarter, according to market analysts IDC, giving it 30.4 per cent of the market.
This compared to 31.2 million iPhones shipped by rival Apple Inc, with 13.1 per cent market share.