Samsung posts $3.6bn Q4 profit as Galaxy sales surge

Samsung finished 2011 on a high after it posted quarterly profits of $3.6bn, an increase of 17 per cent year-on-year, reflecting the strong demand for its Galaxy smartphone range.

The Korean manufacturer reported a quarter-on-quarter increase of 15 per cent in revenue, rising from $36bn to $42bn.

The firm experienced strong sales across the board, but it was once again the mobile division that was the star performer, with shipments of devices increasing by 30 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

Samsung did not provide exact sales figures, but estimates suggest that over 36 million smartphone were shipped during the quarter, and over 300 million during 2011.

This was in stark contrast to Nokia, which only managed to ship over a million Lumia smartphones in the same period and reaffirmed Samsung's position as the main challenger to Apple, which sold 37 million iPhones in Q4.

The Galaxy S II was again highlighted as the most successful device, but the firm expects other Galaxy handset such as the Nexus, Note and Ace devices to perform well this year.

Samsung also noted that its semiconductor division performed well as demand for chips in mobile devices and servers "was solid" despite PC sales continuing to be weak due to the increasing popularity of tablets such as the iPad.

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European mobile devices at IDC, told V3 that the Samsung results were very impressive and the firm is the only major competitor to Apple's runaway success.

"Samsung has been successful in the mobile market and has offered very well designed handsets such as the Galaxy S II at competitive prices. The firm also has a very strong brand that consumers trust and it is likely to outperform Apple by the end of 2012," he said.

"We expect the Galaxy S III to be even more successful as operators now see Samsung as a major player and will be pushing its handsets. Consumers are also likely to visit stores and specifically ask for the device, much like they do with the iPhone."

The Korean firm shows no signs of resting on its laurels after it announced that it plans to invest a record $41bn during 2012.

Samsung's performance contrasts sharply with many of its competitors in consumer markets. Fellow handset maker Motorola announced a net loss of $80m after sales of devices dropped from 11.3 million in Q4 of 2010 to 10.5 million units in the last quarter of 2011.

Fellow electronics manufacturer Sony is also expected to post a $1 billion annual loss when it releases its earnings next week after a disastrous 2011.