Samsung Galaxy S2 Release Date: Sales of the Smartphone Exceeding Expectations
Samsung Electronics Co. is widely expected to report record profits from handset sales, beating analysts’ expectations on smartphones.
Profit has increased as demand for Galaxy smartphones overcame the declining sales of displays and semiconductors, according to Bloomberg.
The South Korea-based company said in a statement yesterday that the operating profit in the three months ending September was 4.2 trillion Won ($3.6 billion).
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The gains from smartphones have helped to compensate low earnings from memory chips and flat-screen panel sales. The profit at the semiconductor division fell 63 percent to 1.26 trillion Won from a year ago, according to analysts at Bloomberg.
"I'm quite amazed," said Lee Seung Woo, a Seoul-based analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co, as reported by the publication. "It seems like there was a big surprise on the smartphone side."
According to Lee, the company probably reached half its goal to sell more than 60 million smartphones this year, in the third quarter alone. The company's sales increased after it began selling the Galaxy S2 in the second quarter.
Reports have also said that Samsung may overtake Apple as the world's biggest Smartphone in unit terms in the third quarter.
Expectations for further momentum in its smartphone business also increased after Apple unveiled its new iPhone 4S this week; leaving many Apple-lovers and investors disappointed that it was not the iPhone 5.
"Major concerns for Samsung had been that its smartphone momentum will decelerate with Apple's new iPhone, but that's now less of a concern as the new iPhone failed to excite many," said Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp in Seoul, according to Reuters.
