Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s top technology firm by revenue, reported a record quarterly profit of $5.9 billion on Friday, as rampant sales of its smartphones more than offset a tumble in memory chip prices.<\/p>\n
The South Korean firm reported April-June operating profit of 6.72 trillion Korean won ($5.86 billion), in line with its earlier estimate of 6.7 trillion won and up 79 percent from a year ago.<\/p>\n
Samsung, which earlier this year ended Nokia’s 14-year reign as the top global handset maker, did not break out its second-quarter smartphone shipments. But analysts said they expected it to have further widened its gap with Nokia and Apple.<\/p>\n
Apple shipped 26 million iPhones in the June quarter, fewer than in the previous quarter and well below the 28-29 million that Wall Street had predicted. Samsung is estimated to have increased sales to around 50 million.<\/p>\n
Samsung also competes with Sony Corp and LG Electronics Inc in TVs, Toshiba Corp and SK Hynix Semiconductor Inc in chips and LG Display in displays.<\/p>\n
Shares in Samsung, the world’s top TV maker, have climbed 9 percent so far this year, versus a 3 percent drop in the wider market. ($1 = 1146.8500 Korean won)<\/p>\n
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