Samsung's Q3 earnings pop on strong handset sales

Samsung Electronics posted healthy results for the third quarter on the back of impressive smartphone and semiconductor sales, and the company said it expects to continue the trend in the fourth quarter.

Click here for key slides from Samsung’s third quarter earnings presentation.The South Korean electronics conglomerate beat its rival LG in several key areas. Samsung reported a record net profit of $3.98 billion in the quarter, up 17 percent from the year-ago period. The company's total revenue clocked in at $35.8 billion.

Samsung said its telecommunications business--which includes both handsets and wireless network equipment--reported an operating profit of $1 billion, up from $845 million in the year-ago period. The unit's operating margin jumped to 10.2 percent from 9.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. Samsung's handset sales rose 15 percent from the third quarter of last year.

For the quarter, the world's No. 2 handset maker by volume shipped a total of 71.4 million phones, up 19 percent from the year-ago period and 12 percent from the second quarter. Samsung said it shipped around 7 million of its Android-powered Galaxy S smartphones, and that the device has been launched by more than 90 carriers worldwide (including all four Tier 1 U.S. carriers). The company's average selling price was $122, up 14 percent from the second quarter.

The company expects smartphone demand to continue in the fourth quarter, and it also expects to increase its market share. However, Samsung said it thinks competition will intensify in emerging markets.

For more:
- see this release
- see these Samsung slides
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this FierceWireless Q3 earnings page

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