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Samsung Electronics’ profit surges on Galaxy sales

By Kim Ji-hyun

It came as no surprise to see Samsung Electronics, the world’s top maker of memory chips and smartphones, post a more than 40 percent increase in its first quarter profit on the back of brisk shipments of its flagship Galaxy lineup.

Net profit came to 7.15 trillion won ($6.44 billion), up from the 5.05 trillion won in the previous quarter a year earlier, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing.

Revenue rose 16.8 percent to 52.87 trillion won, while operating profit rose more than 50 percent to 8.78 trillion won.

Samsung shipped a record 69.4 million smartphones in the first quarter, according to data from research firm Strategic Analysis. It compared with the 63 million it shipped in the previous quarter.

In terms of market share, the electronics behemoth saw its stake in the global market stand at over one-third. On the other hand, the smartphone shipments of Apple -- Samsung’s largest smart device rival -- sank to 37.4 million from 47.8 million in the previous quarter so that its market share fell to 17.9 percent from 22 percent.

“Samsung shipped almost two times more smartphones and grew nine times faster than Apple during the quarter,” Neil Mawston, a Strategy Analytics analyst, said in the statement, “Samsung should continue to deliver strong smartphone volumes worldwide in the second quarter.”

Semiconductors also helped buoy the bottom line for Samsung, but the company’s display panel business suffered on the decline of the demand for large-sized LCD. The unit nevertheless posted in the black thanks to the expanded sales of organic light emitting diode products. (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)