Story highlights
Strong smartphone sales helped Samsung Electronics beat market expectations
World's biggest technology company by sales saw operating profits up 85%
Strong global sales of its Galaxy smartphones led record strong increases
The main subject of Apple's intellectual property infringement claims
Strong smartphone sales helped Samsung Electronics beat market expectations in the third quarter, as the world’s biggest technology company by sales achieved an operating profit increase of more than 85 per cent.
The strong results came despite the fact that during the third quarter Samsung was embroiled in a fierce US court battle with Apple, its main smartphone rival, which left it facing a damages bill of more than $1bn for patent infringement.
But strong global sales of its Galaxy smartphones – the main subject of Apple’s intellectual property infringement claims – enabled Samsung to record strong increases in both revenue and profit, revealed in earnings guidance issued on Friday.
Revenue for the quarter was between $46bn and $47.7bn, up from $37.2bn a year before. Operating profit was between $7.1bn and $7.5bn, up from $3.8bn. A Bloomberg poll of analysts had produced a consensus forecast of $6.8bn for operating profit.