Samsung tips record Q4 profit of $8.3bln
South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it expected to post a
record operating profit of 8.8 trillion won ($8.3 billion) in the fourth
quarter of 2012.
The predicted operating profit for October-December represents an 89
percent rise from a year earlier, and would beat the record of 8.1
trillion won set in the previous quarter.
Samsung, the world's largest technology firm by revenue, was giving
earnings guidance before announcing official results later this month.
Fourth-quarter sales were estimated at 56 trillion won, up 18.4
percent from a year earlier, according to the company, which did not
provide figures for each of its business divisions.
Samsung, also the world's leading smartphone and memory chip maker,
did not disclose its net profit estimate.
For Samsung, 2012 was a watershed year that saw it take a giant bite
out of Apple Inc as it carved out a dominant position in the global
mobile computing market.
Having ended Nokia's 14-year rule as the world's top cell phone
manufacturer, Samsung saw its share of the lucrative smartphone market
surge to 31.3 percent in the third quarter of 2012, up from just 3.3
percent in late 2009.
It extended its lead over main rival Apple as the top maker of
smartphones worldwide, according to research firm IHS iSuppli, which
gave Samsung 28 percent of the market in 2012, up from 20 percent the
previous year.
Apple's share rose to 20 percent in 2012 from 19 percent, IHS said.
While Apple continues to rely mainly on its iPhone series, Samsung
produces dozens of smartphone models every year that address all
segments of the market, from the high end to the low end.
AFP
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