Samsung Sees Big Profit Boost From Smartphones
Samsung Electronics Co. projected a sharp increase in first-quarter operating profit from a year earlier on strong sales of smartphones, a trend analysts expect will continue in the second quarter, when the company begins selling its next-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4.
The world’s biggest producer of mobile phones, televisions and memory chips said Friday it expects an operating profit of between 8.5 trillion won and 8.9 trillion won ($7.6 billion and $8 billion) for the three months ended March 31. That compares with a 5.7 trillion won operating profit a year earlier and a quarterly record of 8.8 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2012.
