Strong sales of the Galaxy SIII made a significant contribution to Samsung's success

Korean handset vendor Samsung has announced net profits of 7.04tn won ($6.5bn) for the fourth quarter of 2012, with strong sales from its mobile division making a significant contribution. The firm’s profit was up 76 per cent on the same period in 2011, when the firm netted 4.01tn won.

Mobile sales for the three-month period reaped 27.3tn won, almost half of the firm’s overall revenue for the quarter of 56tn won. Operating profit for the IT and mobile division, which includes handsets and tablets, was 5.4tn won, up from 2.56tn won in 2011.

Samsung said sales of its SIII and Galaxy Note II devices had been particularly strong. These devices were more popular than their predecessors, Samsung said, setting new records for the speed and volume of sales.

The firm did not give any numbers for unit sales, although Strategy Analytics reported that Samsung led the market with sales of 63 million smartphones in the quarter, up from 36.5 million in 4Q11, and 2013 million across the whole of 2012.

Samsung warned that smartphone demand in developed markets will likely slow in the first quarter of 2013 and ackowledged the threat from manufacturers of lower-cost devices. “The furious growth spurt seen in the global smartphone market last year is expected to be pacified by intensifying price competition compounded by a slew of new products,” the firm said. “In the first quarter, demand for smartphones in developed countries is expected to decelerate, while their emerging counterparts will see their markets escalate with the introduction of more affordable smartphones and a bigger appetite for tablet PCs throughout the year.”

Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2012 ¹

Source: Strategy Analytics