Lucy Williamson reports from Seoul on Samsung's success
Samsung
Electronics has overtaken Nokia to become the world's largest maker of
mobile phones, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Nokia took the top spot in 1998 from Motorola, but in the
first quarter of 2012 Samsung shipped 93m phones compared to almost 83m
by Nokia.Samsung also reported its highest quarterly profit since 2008.
Net profit was 5.05tn won ($4.5bn; £2.8bn) in the quarter ending 31 March, up 81% from 2.78tn won last year.
Samsung is also the world's biggest TV and flat screen maker.
"We cautiously expect our earnings momentum to continue going forward, as competitiveness in our major businesses is enhanced," said Robert Yi, head of investor relations at Samsung.
Bright future The firm said its IT and mobile communications division, which manufactures the smartphones, made an operating profit of 4.27tn won during the period, as revenues in the division surged 86% from a year earlier.
Samsung will unveil the latest version of its Galaxy range of phones on 3 May.
The Galaxy range has been very popular and helped Samsung overtake Apple to become the world's biggest seller of smartphones.
"The smartphone market has almost only two players, Samsung and Apple," said Lee Sei-Cheol of Meritz Securities.
"Since its Galaxy3 phone is being unveiled in May, Samsung will keep enjoying sales growth in its mobile phone division."
Global mobile handset shipments (Q1) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Company | Units (millions) | Market share |
|
Source: Strategy Analytics |
||
|
Samsung |
93.5 |
25.4% |
|
Nokia |
82.7 |
22.5% |
|
Apple |
35.1 |
9.5% |
|
Other |
156.7 |
42.6% |
Start Quote
Brian Park Tong Yang SecuritiesSamsung's handset earnings may weaken in the latter half of this year, with the possible launch of Apple's iPhone 5”
Analysts said that given its
robust growth and dominance in the sector, Samsung was well placed to
benefit from this growth and boost its market share.
However, given the robust growth in the sector, other
smartphone makers are also keen to introduce new products and tap into
the fast-growing market.Samsung is facing stiff competition from rivals such as US-based Apple, Finland's Nokia, and Taiwan's HTC.
Apple, which said earlier this week that it sold 35 million of its iPhones in the first quarter, is expected to launch a new version of its handset later this year.
Analysts said that as more models are launched, manufacturers may have to the cut price of their handsets in a bid to attract consumers, a move that may see profit margins shrink.
"Samsung's handset earnings may weaken in the latter half of this year, with the possible launch of Apple's iPhone 5," said Brian Park of Tong Yang Securities.
Chip troubles Another area of concern for Samsung is likely to be its chip manufacturing unit, which has been hurt by slowing global demand for personal computers.
The success of Galaxy range of handsets has helped Samsung offset falls in other units
However, demand for these chips has been declining as consumers turn to tablet PCs, which mostly use flash memory chips.
At the same time, falling prices have also hurt profitability in the sector.
Samsung's memory-chip division saw its profits slide by 54% during the first quarter when compared with the same period a year earlier.
The company said it expected the demand for DRAM chips to rebound in the coming months, but warned that growing competition in the sector "will lead to a price decline".