Strong smartphone sales power Samsung to record Q2 2012 profits

Samsung NameSamsung today announced its Q2 2012 financial results, posting record profits of US$5.9 billion (matching earlier guidance). Its mobile group contributed about 60% of this profit due in large part to strong smartphone sales (including those of the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S III).

Samsung no longer discloses smartphone shipment numbers but estimates suggest that it shipped about 50 million smartphones in the quarter. If so, this would nearly be twice as many as Apple sold (26 million in its last quarter).

While Samsung expects its third quarter to be “marginally positive,” its smartphone division is expected to continue to show strong growth. Samsung’s shipments could jump again with some analysts expecting Galaxy S III sales to hit 20 million units. Samsung is also planning to launch new products “with diverse price ranges” (including the expected Galaxy Note 2) that should also help drive strong shipment numbers.

Read more: Reuters