Samsung reports strong third quarter results

Samsung reported a strong earnings report for the third quarter. Operating profit increased by 185.8% year over year as net income reached 3.72 trillion won. Revenue grew 18.5% from last year's third period to a total of 35.87 trillion won. In the Telecommunications division, the company said it had a 15% increase in the number of handsets shipped, to 60.2 million, on a sequential basis. Global market share in the cellphone industry crossed 20% for the first time, reaching 20.8% which was a nice pick up in market share from the 19.2% slice of the pie that Samsung recorded after the second quarter. While the company said that costs in the handset manufacturing business rose in the period, it was able to keep profit margins stable through increased sales of feature rich touchscreen models. Industry wide prices declined 3% from the second quarter to an average price of $120 for each unit.

Predicting a strong final quarter to the fiscal year, Samsung expects to top its' 2009 handset target of 200 million units sold thanks to strong partnerships with carriers and an expanding lineup. In the U.S., the manufacturer has just had its' Android powered Samsung Moment released by Sprint as we reported. On November 18th, the Behold II is expected to be launched by T-Mobile and there is some talk that the handset will be running the latest Android 2.0 OS.

Samsung Behold II Preliminary Specifications

source: Samsung