South Korea based Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of television and mobile handsets reported its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday. The earnings were higher than Wall Street expectations as the electronics giants’ sales of its smartphone Galaxy and its phone-tablet Note II withstood the debut of Apple’s iPhone 5 in October.
Samsung, during the recent fourth quarter, sold close to 62 million smartphone units, which compared to only 45 million sold by Apple. Samsung’s operating profit was up by 89% to over $8.3 billion for the three months ended December 31. That profit was higher than Wall Street analysts had predicted. The company however, did not release its sales figures for its different division or its overall net income.
Overall sales were up by 18%, which were helped because of the demand for the Galaxy Note II and the Galaxy S phones. The mobile phone division’s earnings were doubled compared to a year ago during the same quarterly reporting period. Sales of Apple’s iPhone 5 were slowed due to a problem with the mapping software it replaced.
Wall Street has said that it will be a tough challenge for Samsung going forward to maintain its strong competitiveness as its rivals Apple and Google get ready during this year to release new products that are high end.
Samsung also has an ironic situation with its biggest rival Apple. The two are wagering legal battles across the globe, while at the same time Apple is Samsungs largest client.
Sales of the Samsung Galaxy S II passed the 30 million mark only five months after its launch last year. The phone-tablet Note II is also helping as that product reached the 5 million sales point in November of last year.
