Samsung sees record operating profit in 4Q11

Samsung Electronics has estimated its operating profits for the last quarter of 2011 at about KRW5.2 trillion (US$4.5 billion), up 22.4% on quarter and 73.3% on year. The figure is also likely to hit a new company record.

Samsung posted record quarterly operating profits of KRW5.01 trillion in the second quarter of 2010 when its memory and LCD panel businesses performed strongly.

But its component businesses would not play a significant part in the fourth-quarter operating profits. Samsung's chip division, for instance, would report only KRW1.2-1.4 trillion in operating profits - the lowest quarterly level in 2011, according to sources at Korean securities firms.

A January 3 Reuters report cited analysts as saying that Samsung's robust operating profits in the fourth quarter came from its strong smartphone sales.

According to IHS iSuppli, Samsung overtook Apple as the world's top smartphone maker in the third quarter of 2011.

source