HispanicBusiness

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co on Tuesday estimated its operating profit for the fourth quarter at a record 8.8 trillion won (8.3 billion dollars). The estimated operating profit for the electronics manufacturer would represent a rise of 88.8 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier and 9.2 per cent from the third quarter.

Fourth-quarter revenue was predicted at 56 trillion won, up 18 per cent from a year earlier.

The preliminary figures put record annual earnings of 201 trillion won, with an operating profit of around 29 trillion won, for the company that leads the smartphone market with its Galaxy range.

Samsung did not release estimates for its fourth-quarter net profits.

The company does not provide a breakdown by product line, but mobile phones made up two-thirds of the revenue for the Apple Inc competitor in the previous quarter, and several news reports quoted analysts as saying strong Galaxy sales probably underpinned the latest revenue performance.

Samsung sold an estimated 63 million smartphones worldwide in the fourth quarter, up from 56.3 million in the previous quarter, South Korean industry expert KB Investment & Securities was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.