Samsung profits to soar as Galaxy sales help fight Apple's dominance

Samsung looks to have recorded bumper Christmas sales, posting preliminary results showing it raked in profits of £5.2bn on sales of £32bn in the last three months of 2012.

While the figures have yet to be finalised, the early signs are that the South Korean titan has maintained is breakneck growth.

In the year-ago quarter, Samsung recorded sales of £27bn and profits of £3.12bn. That would suggest it is in line to report a 66 percent rise in profits and a 19 percent rise in sales.

At this stage, Samsung has not detailed where it expects the boost in profits and sales to have come from.

But it's likely that its smartphone and tablet units, led by its flagship devices such as the Galaxy S3 and the 10in and 7in versions of its Galaxy Tab, will have helped boost its numbers.

Last year, Samsung claimed it sold 20 million Galaxy S3 handset in the first 100 days of availability.

The figures will also be one in the eye for arch rival Apple, which is also yet to report on its Christmas sales. However, Apple will have been hoping that the arrival of its iPhone 5 would help it snaffle the lion's share of the seasonal market.

Samsung's results stand in sharp contrast to those from one-time Android smartphone king, HTC. Earlier this week it reported a 90 percent drop in its profits for the last quarter of 2012.