subject: Samsung Posts Record First Quarter Profit On Smartphone Boom [print this page] Samsung Electronics, the world's top rated technology company by earnings, posted report quarterly revenue of $5.15 billion on booming profits of its Galaxy smartphones and also the Be aware, a mini-tablet and cellphone.
Samsung, which raced for the top rated in the global smartphone rankings last calendar year with near a fifth from the market, from just three p.c in 2009, really should consolidate its place towards Apple Inc and other people with more solution launches, such as a revamped Galaxy S, more than another few months.
January-March functioning revenue was 5.eight trillion won, nearly double the year-ago level and a lot better than a consensus forecast of five trillion won from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Furthermore, it topped the previous quarter's previous file of 5.3 trillion won.
Revenue was 45 trillion won.
Samsung, Asia's most valuable engineering firm well worth some $191 billion, unveiled its January-March estimates on Friday ahead of thorough quarterly outcomes due on April 27.
"There was a large shock in earnings, whilst income was in line, which suggests a more robust than anticipated earnings margin in the handset division thanks to strong revenue of high-end types just like the Galaxy S and Notice," stated Choi Do-yeon, analyst at LIG Financial commitment & Securities.
"Handset margins are estimated to have topped 20 p.c and revenue through the division also topped 4 trillion won. This is really a blowout result and there could be much more surprises in the coming quarters as other businesses such as chips show recovery."
Samsung is expected to have shipped a report 44 million smartphones in the first quarter just ended, up by nearly 25 p.c from October-December levels, according to some Reuters survey of analysts.
Samsung introduced the Galaxy Notice, a mini-tablet and cellphone with a screen half the size of the iPad, in late October, and also the top-end model has quickly become its core financial gain earner.
Product sales of the Observe, which has revived the throwback stylus function, have topped five million, increasing the pressure on gadget strugglers HTC, Nokia and Research in Motion.
"Sales in the Note were very good and it's become Samsung's fresh money generator," stated Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities, speaking forward of Friday's estimates.
The handset division is likely to account for around two thirds of Samsung's total earnings, analysts forecast.
WINNING FORMULA
Even though Apple is Samsung's biggest rival in smartphones, the U.S. company is also its biggest client, gobbling up Samsung's high-end displays and microchips for its iPhone and iPad.
"Samsung's integrated business model - for instance, it makes its own application processors and AMOLED screens - is the biggest ingredient of its winning formula, which, in our view, can't be easily copied," Daniel Kim, an analyst at Macquarie, wrote in a research be aware.
Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Expense & Securities, forecast Samsung's smartphone market place share gains would accelerate with the release, probably in June, of the up coming version of the Galaxy S. "Its smartphone growth momentum will continue at least until the stop with the third quarter," he stated.
Earnings prospects for memory chips, where Samsung is also a world leader, have also brightened since Japan's Elpida Memory filed for bankruptcy, prompting its customers to switch to rivals such as Samsung and SK hynix to secure supplies from the chips used in smartphones and laptops.
"Contract chip prices are likely to continue to rise in the second quarter, possibly another 10-15 percent, as large customers like Apple, Dell and HP may seek to increase supply in the wake of Elpida's trouble," stated Choi Sung-jae, an analyst at SK Securities.
Samsung shares have risen by a quarter so far this year, and hit a life high of 1.351 million won ($1,200) on Wednesday. In excess of the same period shares in Apple have soared by more than half, taking the California-based firm's value to above $582 billion - much more than three times that of Samsung.
