Samsung claims record £5.1bn quarterly profit

Samsung Electronics has revealed that it has made an estimated 8.8 trillion won (£5.1bn) in the last financial quarter ending December 2012.

This puts the Korean company's sales at 500 devices per minute and, if accurate, represents Samsung's fifth record-breaking quarter in a row.

Samsung now sells more smartphones than Apple, and easily outperforms its other rivals in the market such as Nokia and HTC, which itself reported that sales of its devices had dropped by more than 90 per cent, and posted its lowest profits since 2004.

Samsung says its operating profit has risen by 89 per cent in comparison to this time last year.

While Apple was content with rolling out just the iPhone 5 into the smartphone market last year, Samsung released 37 different phone designs, including its Galaxy Note series, which has occupied a unique, stylus-driven space between phone and tablet.

The resulting legal fallout arising from patent cases brought about by Apple seems, in the end, to have had little effect on Samsung's rising fortunes. Though Apple won $1bn in damages against Samsung in August 2012, the company was unable to persuade courts to enforce its desired sales ban on certain devices in the US - including the Galaxy series phones and tablets, which were also a huge contributor to the success of Samsung's year.

Earlier today at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, Samsung showed a glimpse into the future of LCD TVs, augmenting its already hugely successful range with devices that will simplify internet-connected smart TVs. It is also building televisions that use autostereoscopic technology to show two different full-screen programmes for multiple user viewing.