Samsung Galaxy series rockets company to record £2.75bn profit

Company overtakes Nokia and Apple to become world's top smartphone manufacturer

Samsung Electronics has posted a record £2.75bn quarterly profit, following a boom in sales of its Galaxy series of smartphones, and reportedly overtaking Nokia to become the world's top phone manufacturer.

The company's latest quarterly financial statement reveals that the strong performance is largely due to a marked increase in Samsung smartphone sales.

Samsung's smartphone unit also accounted for 73 per cent of the company's profit.

Research firm Strategy Analytics said Samsung's smartphone sales now make it the world's top selling phone manufacturer, controlling 30 per cent share of the market, up from just 12 per cent a year ago.

This contrasts sharply with the fortunes of former mobile top dog, Nokia, which saw its share of the market collapse from 24 per cent in last year to just 12 per cent as moves away from its Symbian platform.

"This is Nokia's lowest market share level in the smartphone category since 2002," said Strategy Analytics director Tom Kang.

"Nokia's new Lumia portfolio has recently gotten off to an encouraging start in the critical US market, but shipments there are not yet large enough to offset the firm's tumbling Symbian volumes in the rest of the world."

Apple, meanwhile, now accounts for 24 per cent of the mobile market.

Samsung TV sales also boosted company revenues, with its Consumer Electronics division posting a £288m profit for the quarter.

The two factors helped mask the massive lull in Samsung chip sales, where profits halved during the quarter.

"Despite difficult business environments including seasonal low demand for major products such as PCs and TVs amid a global economic slowdown, we achieved record quarterly results based on our differentiated products and technology leadership," said Samsung's head of investor relations, Robert Yi.

But Ovum analyst Adam Leach warned Samsung's long-term prospects may lie with its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3.

"Samsung has become the poster child for Android smartphones; the company's Galaxy range has proven a hit with consumers," said Leach to V3.

"Leveraging Android has played to Samsung's advantage so far, giving it the opportunity to move to the software platform of choice for consumers. However, it leaves the company vulnerable to a vast number of other OEMs, which could produce the next 'must-have' Android smartphone."

Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S3 in London of 3 May, check back at V3 on the day for full coverage of the event.