Samsung's mobile division doubles operating profit in Q4

posted by Alan F. / Jan 24, 2013, 8:47 PM

Samsung's mobile division doubles operating profit in Q4

"Samsung’s strong earnings momentum will keep on going. The shipment gap over Apple will get wider and wider."-Lee Sun Tae,analyst NH Investments and Securities

Samsung reported net profits of $6.60 billion USD for the fourth quarter, about 75% higher than what it earned last year. The mobile division reported sales in U.S. dollars of $25.5 billion dollars, up 4% from the third quarter. The company said that the results were lead by strong demand for the dynamic duo, the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Samsung GALAXY Note II. Operating profit for the handset unit came to about $5 billion USD compared to $2.35 billion last year.

Samsung is responsible for about one of every four smartphones shipped globally and is expected to sell 59.7 million smartphones in the first quarter. That would be off slightly from the estimated 63 million smartphones that the Korean manufacturer sold in the fourth quarter and compares with the 47.8 million Apple iPhone units sold in Apple's fiscal first quarter, which also ended last month. The seasonal decline in smartphone shipments in Q1 would seem to indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S IV, the next flagship model for the company, won't launch until after March.

The company's current flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S III, has sold 41 million units just 7 months after its May launch while the Samsung GALAXY Note II sold 5 million units by November, just two months after its September release.

source: Bloomberg

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18 Comments

1. techguy22

Posts: 227; Member since: Aug 09, 2012

ROCK ON SAMSUNG !!

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 8:52 PM 17

6. richardyarrell2011

Posts: 510; Member since: Mar 16, 2011

I have said it before and will always say it SAMSUNG IS ANDROID plain and simple. If other manufacturers were just as good from an software and features standpoint maybe just maybe they would be as successful.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:16 PM 7

13. Berzerk000

Posts: 4275; Member since: Jun 26, 2011

Samsung isn't Android. Android MADE Samsung what it is today. Without Android, Samsung would be on Bada right now and be outclassed by iOS and WP. The Galaxy S line brought Samsung to fame, it was a nice product that held a reliable brand name that people trusted, that's why Samsung is on top. But if Samsung hadn't have picked up Android, HTC or Motorola would've taken their place easily, and it would be one of them you would be worshiping right now, and Samsung would be off the map. If Motorola hadn't released the original DROID, no one would've picked up Android for a while, so thank Moto for that. HTC was the pioneer of Android, Motorola made Android get accepted by carriers and other OEMs. Samsung was only a well known name who brought speedy hardware, who could have been easily replaced. Also, Touchwiz was pretty ugly until Nature UX, and it never really offered anything over the other custom skins until Nature UX either; it was actually pretty similar to iOS in looks with the original Galaxy S. HTC, Motorola, and Sony are going to rise up this year. There's about 14% of market share waiting to be taken from iOS, and it's most likely going to one of those 3 in the next year or so unless Apple pulls something amazing.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 10:58 PM 9

14. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

Somehow....he wasnt around when the Droid 1 launched....the lil phone that started the Android popularity...

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 11:39 PM 0

2. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

Companies cant make a profit with Android huh....lol. Or thats what certain ppl like to say.... Ppl forget that before the GS 1 line....all most ppl knew of Android was Motorola and HTC. And Samsung Android phones really sucked before the GS1 line. Samsung didnt start here from day one.....if they can do it...other Android manufactures can too.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 8:54 PM 3

4. thunderbolt

Posts: 76; Member since: Jan 10, 2013

Samsung is a vertically integrated company so they can do a lot better and lot quicker than any other company ...

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:06 PM 6

5. techguy22

Posts: 227; Member since: Aug 09, 2012

exactly they produce all their stuff. they dont reply on suppliers. its not easy for other OEMs.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:11 PM 4

7. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

This is true.....I thought about all those Amoled screens. They split chips tho...not all are running Exynos. Samsung also has a product line thats on all major carriers in the US...and maybe other carriers. No other manufacture has done that yet. Motorola doesnt even have a phone on T Mo. I think HTC just started doing it with the One line tho. Samsung also has the most phones on all 4 carriers combined. High end, mid range and maybe low end.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:21 PM 3

8. hung2900

Posts: 966; Member since: Mar 02, 2012

A lot better and quicker, I'm sure it is. But everyone knows a huge conglomerate like Samsung has to face the huge bureaucracy and diseconomy of scale also. It's definitely not easy to manage it, and with my knowledge, it's an art of mixing vertical structure and horizontal structure with the excellent total quality management (TQM) Anyone say "Thank to Android, blah blah blah" is just stupid, like if Walt Disney didn't see the mouse at that time Walt Disney cannot be something like now.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:35 PM 2

3. thunderbolt

Posts: 76; Member since: Jan 10, 2013

Apple wants 2 billion of the 5 that came from mobile division. Nokia is still undecided when to pee in pocket if at all.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 8:55 PM 1

9. ramonleonjr62

Posts: 48; Member since: Oct 17, 2012

made them cry keeping rolling on sammy my boy ^-^

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:43 PM 3

10. nasznjoka

Posts: 418; Member since: Oct 05, 2012

keepit coming..................where's nokia fans with they 'quality build' and durable 'hardware('bricks') ;

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 9:59 PM 7

11. nasznjoka

Posts: 418; Member since: Oct 05, 2012

fromwww.phonearena.com/news/Should-Nokia-switch-to-Android_id39063 Profitable with Windows Phone Hooray, Nokia is profitable again! After a long and painful transitional period, the ex-largest cell phone manufacturer has finally swung back to profitability during the beloved holiday season (Q4). Understandably, the profit isn't that big - it's $585 million, but at least it's a start.

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 10:09 PM 1

12. thunderbolt

Posts: 76; Member since: Jan 10, 2013

But it is more because of restructuring than 920. Check the sheet carefully. How can 2 bricks for $99 (with free wireless charger) at a carrier where 80% sales were iphone ever result any company to really come in to profit?

posted on Jan 24, 2013, 10:51 PM 2

15. Tsepz_GP

Posts: 1176; Member since: Apr 12, 2012

Excellent work by Samsung, congrats to them, they deserve it for making what are probably the best smartphones in the industry. For those who say Android made Samsung, I suggest looking back to the days before Android with phones like the WM6 i900 Omnia, the Symbian based i8510 Innov8 and i8910 OmniaHD, these are jus some phones that were already doing very well for Samsung. Between 2003 to 2009 Samsung grew at quite a rate and were already well on their way to the top with each earnings call bringing better news than the last, profits consistently rising each year and market share growing steadily, each year Samsung overtook an OEM, until they got on Android, that helped them shoot passed Nokia and Apple, but threw out the years, those of us who watched Samsung stock knew it was coming, so saying Android made Samsung is pure and utter BS. :)

posted on Jan 25, 2013, 1:08 AM 4

16. SleepingOz unregistered

OmniaHD was a monster back then! I remember lots of reviews said that Samsung did a better job with it than nokia with its n97. I really liked this phone but went for the n97 instead since I was a nokia fanboy back then. *regrets*

posted on Jan 25, 2013, 2:37 AM 1

17. SleepingOz unregistered

Keep on rocking, Samsung! And make the biased haters even more bitter about your success!

posted on Jan 25, 2013, 2:44 AM 1

18. Exius

Posts: 3; Member since: Jan 25, 2013

My best friend have also bought Galaxy S, and than in one year changed it to Galaxy S3. He is very satisfied with it! He loves to listen to musis and to watch videos. He has installed Amp Player and ArkMC dlna application on it. He is very satisfied.