Samsung’s first-quarter overall operating profit of 8.8 trillion won (about $US7.9 billion) was up a massive 54% year-on-year.
According to Reuters, the result is in line with its estimates, falling just short of its fourth-quarter’s record of 8.84 trillion won.
The result was led by the company’s mobile division, where profits jumped 56% to a record 6.51 trillion won in the first quarter, with the division now accounting for just under three quarters of its total profit.
The strong results came as the company shipped its new flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone to 327 carriers in 155 countries, with the new smartphone launching in Australia over the weekend.
According to IDC figures, the company is now the largest mobile phone vendor in the word, shipping around 115 million smartphones during the first quarter of 2013 and accounting for 27.5% of the total worldwide mobile phone market (including smartphones and featurephones).
The company is now well ahead of second placed Nokia, at 61.9 million, and Apple on 37.4 million.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
