Samsung sees smartphone sales soar as profits surge to $8.2bn

Samsung is crediting its mobile device unit with helping to drive a 10 percent jump in quaertely profits.

The company said that profits for its quarter ending 31 December were 8.84 trillion Korean won ($8.2bn) in total profits from 56.06 trillion won in sales.

Much of that jump was credited to the company's highly successful Galaxy handset and tablet division. Samsung reported that its mobile business accounted for 27.23 trillion won in revenues and 5.44 trillion won in profits.

The company has seen its share of the mobile space boom in recent months. Last November the company was said by researchers to control nearly 23 percent of the global phone market.

While mobile returns were up for Samsung, the firm saw other parts of its business struggle. The company said that the market for its DRAM chips remained soft, while TV and home appliance demand weakened in December.

Other areas however, including the NAND mobile memory market, were able to pick up the slack and help their respective business units turn a profit.

"Despite uncertainties in Europe and concerns over the US fiscal cliff creating a difficult business environment, we did our best this quarter to achieve strong earnings based on a strategic focus on differentiated and high value-added products as well as our technological competitiveness," said Samsung senior vice president and head of investor relations Robert Yi.

"Heading into this year, we are expecting a slow recovery in the component business due to reduced capital expenditures, while competition in the set business will intensify further as demand slows and the mid- to low-end market expands."

Samsung said that it expects its expenditures to be near 2012 levels, though that could change should the global economic outlook improve.