Samsung Forecasts Record-Breaking Profits--Again

For the fifth quarter in a row, Samsung is reporting record-breaking profits. The company estimates that it earned $8.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, thanks in part to strong smartphone sales.

Ars Technica's Cyrus Farivar reported, "Samsung, in an earnings preview Monday, estimated its Q4 2012 profit at $8.3 billion, edging out rival Apple’s quarterly profits in its most recent earnings posted in October 2012. The company also said it sold nearly 500 handsets across the globe every minute. The Korean giant is expected to release its full, official quarterly earnings on January 25, 2013."

The Industry Standard's Yewon Kang added, "Samsung Electronics said its operating profit nearly doubled in the fourth quarter, on strong sales of high-end smartphones and the growth of its processor business for mobile devices. The world's largest handset, memory chip and TV maker reported an estimated operating profit of 8.8 trillion won ($8.2 billion) for the October-December period, up from 4.66 trillion won a year earlier. Its estimated revenue was 56 trillion won in the quarter."

Miyoung Kim and Hyunjoo Jin from Reuters explained, "Shipments of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III, which overtook the iPhone 4S in the third quarter to become the world's best-selling smartphone, are likely to have slipped to around 15 million in the last quarter from 18 million in July-September, analysts estimate, but sales of around 8 million Galaxy Note II 'phablets' should more than make up for that - pushing overall smartphone shipments to around 63 million."

Bloomberg quoted Daewoo Securities Co. analyst James Song, who said, "Samsung was the major beneficiary of slower-than-expected sales of Apple’s iPhone 5. The biggest challenge ahead is whether it can maintain its competitiveness in the smartphone market as high-end products are expected to be released by big players like Apple and Google."