On the back of the robust sales, Samsung said through a regulatory filing Thursday it is believed to have posted an operating profit of 6.6 trillion won (US$5.6 billion) in the January-March period, up 10.37 percent from the same period a year ago. Sales were 49-trillion won in the quarter, Samsung said, compared with the 48.8-trillion won analysts expected.
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On Thursday, Samsung indicated its first quarter profit jump by 10% showing a strong market sales for its Galaxy S7 smartphones, but it’s still uncertain to whether the company can maintain momentum among new offerings from their rival.
That’s enough for an expected consolidated operating profit for the three month period of 6.6 trillion Korean won ($5.7bn).
When South Korean electronics giant released Galaxy S7, it became hugely successful and one of the reasons noted for its market success was its release.
Samsung is yet to confirm exact sales figures for the Galaxy S7 and its larger, curved screen sibling.
Samsung is continuing to reduce the number of phones in its line-up as it tries to cut spending and focus on competitive devices. He also noted that the Galaxy S7 will still likely be “the world’s best-selling Android smartphone in 2016”.
Samsung released its S7 smartphones in March, a month earlier than its S6 line in 2015.
The operating profit guidance was also higher than any individual forecast in the survey. It actually didn’t make much sense for it to be in beta before because there was nothing new about the app. It played music just like the built-in music player app in earlier Samsung devices, but now it has a better interface.
Semiconductor prices have continued to decline due to a loosening supply-demand balance for memory chips used in smartphones, personal computers and data centers.
“Samsung’s DRAM shipment probably shipped slightly lower than our previous forecast but [the solid profits from semiconductors] must have come from them focusing on expanding profitability rather than increasing shipment”, said Daishin Securities analysts Kim Kyung-min.
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The company will not provide net income or break out divisional performance until it releases audited results later this month. The launch, a month earlier than last year’s S6, puts Samsung further ahead of Apple, which is understood to be planning a major flagship smartphone launch, the iPhone 7, this autumn.
