Smartphones sail firm to record profit

SEOUL, Friday

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics on Friday reported a record operating profit of 5.3 trillion won ($4.72 billion) in the fourth quarter, thanks largely to booming smartphone sales.

The company also announced a 25 trillion won investment in its chipmaking and panel-making business.

However, the world’s largest technology firm by revenue slipped to back second place behind rival Apple in terms of smartphone sales, according to research.

Samsung’s telecoms businesses accounted for 2.64 trillion won out of the total quarterly operating profit, with the flagship Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note brands largely credited for the strong result.

“Despite intensified competition amid the global economic slowdown, our telecommunications businesses continued to post solid earnings with an enhanced line-up of high-end smartphones, resulting in higher average selling price,” said senior vice-president Robert Yi in a statement.

The overall quarterly operating profit figure, a 76 per cent increase year-on-year, was largely in line with the earnings guidance issued early this month by the firm.

Revenue in October-December was 47.3 trillion won, a 13 per cent rise year-on-year. Net profit of four trillion won was up 17 percent on a year earlier.

For the whole of last year the company logged a net profit of 13.7 trillion won, down 15 per cent from the previous year.