Samsung triples number of smartphones sold year-over-year in Q4

Korean manufacturer Samsung had a record fourth quarter, reporting that operating earnings for the three months ended in December rose to 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion USD) from 3.01 trillion won a year ago. Sales rose 12% to 47 trillion won. With 27.8 million smartphones shipped in the third quarter, Samsung leaped over Apple to become the world's top smartphone supplier while doubling its marketshare and shipping more than 3 times the number of units it did in the year-ago quarter. That figure is estimated to have risen to 35 million smartphones shipped in Q4.

For all of 2011, Samsung sold more than 300 million handsets, including some featurephones. But the big story with the Korean manufacturer was the Samsung Galaxy S II which launched in May and sold 10 million units faster than any other Samsung mobile device. Samsung has some high hopes for the Samsung GALAXY Note which is a 5.3 inch combination of a smartphone and a tablet which has done well after being launched overseas. The device is expected to be offered in the U.S. with an LTE model being prepared for AT&T.

Also expected to perform well in 2012 is the Samsung Galaxy S III. Expected to be on display at the MWC next month in Barcelona, the Galaxy S III will have to be amazing to grab the spotlight from its very successful predecessor. There is speculation that the phone will feature a 4.6 inch 720p display with a quad-core Exynos processor. We could even see on the device a 12MP camera that captures video in 1080p. The phone will offer LTE connectivity.,

Between the Samsung GALAXY Note and the Samsung Galaxy S III, 2012 looks to be a big year for Samsung's smartphones. The company could sell as many as 170 million smartphones in 2012 according to BNP Paribas and Korea Investment &Securities, up from an estimated 95 million shipped last year.

source: Reuters