Samsung Records $5.9bn Q2 Boosted By Strong Galaxy S III Sales

Samsung has revealed its financial results for Q2 2012, and as expected it's been a barnstorming quarter, with the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note helping push operating profit up 79-percent to $5.9bn. Sales for the three month period rose 21-percent year-on-year to $42bn, with mobile specifically up 75-percent alone, though Samsung's semiconductor business was a blot on the balance sheet with a 6-percent fall versus last year.

Samsung blamed that dip on a weak market with low seasonal demand for PCs, though said demand in mobile and servers was "relatively solid." The company is looking to double-down on high value-added product sales, as well as accelerate sub-30nm migration in production processes.

As for the display panel business, panel demand was lower than Samsung had expected, but strong demand for LCD tablet panels helped drive market growth. OLED use increased as more smartphones adopted the technology, and the display business overall rose 16-percent year-on-year. Samsung's TV division saw mid-single-digit year-on-year growth, the same as Q1 2012, but earnings increased from region-specific models including premium sets for the developed market and a broader range of cheaper options for those still emerging.

Mobile was the star, though, with smartphone demand increasing by low-single-digit quarter-on-quarter (though featurephone sales dipped in the same period). Shipments weren't specified in exact numbers – though that hasn't stopped analyst estimates - but smartphones grew and average selling price also rose. Samsung expects stronger performance in Q3 2012 with new products in both phone and tablet lines.

Full details in Samsung's Q2 2012 presentation [pdf link].