The maker of the Samsung Galaxy S3 (What Mobile’s Phone of the year) saw earnings rise 88% in the final three months of 2012, powered by strong smartphone sales.
Samsung is expected to report record profits of £5.1 billion for Q4 2012, building upon its momentum as one of the world’s largest and most successful smartphone makers.
In its published preliminary guidance published, the manufacturer said profits would rise for the fifth successive quarter. Revenue is also expected to rise 18% to around £32.8 billion.
Samsung didn’t offer a breakdown of the results in the guidance, but analysts suspect it will match the previous breakdown – namely, smartphones making up two-thirds of earnings.
Samsung overtook Nokia as the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer in 2012, and according to analytics firm IHS, Samsung finished 2012 with a 29% market share, up from 24% the year prior.
Just before Christmas, Samsung announced that sales of its flagship Galaxy S III smartphone had topped 30m, five months after going on sale. This is surpassed only by the iPhone 5, which sold 45m.
