Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 debacle is quickly becoming a distant memory.
The South Korean electronics giant said it expects to post a profit of $8.7 billion during the first quarter of 2017, marking its biggest first-quarter profit ever and up 48% year over year. Revenue for the quarter is expected to come in at $44 billion, marking an annual increase of 0.44%
Samsung didn’t break out performance by business unit or offer much in the way of other details in its preliminary filing, but the predictions indicate the company is making huge strides with its components efforts. The company saw profits soar 50% in the fourth quarter of 2016 thanks primarily to the sales of chips, display panels and other parts, and in February the company reportedly inked a $4.3 billion deal to supply LED screens for the next iPhone.
Samsung has impressively rebounded from the botched release of the Note 7, which remarkably saw two worldwide recalls after reports of batteries catching fire or exploding. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission officially announced a recall of the Note 7 last year after Samsung received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the U.S., including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage including fires. Samsung produced a second wave of devices, but issued a second recall after a replacement phone caught fire aboard a Southwest Airlines flight. The handset, which had appeared to be positioned to capture a significant chunk of the high end of the smartphone market, likely cost the company roughly $10 billion.
Samsung reportedly began to issue a software update two weeks ago that will completely disable any remaining Galaxy Note 7 devices in its home market of South Korea. But the company also announced plans to sell the phones as refurbished devices.
The Note 7 misstep saw Apple retake its position as the world’s top smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2016, but Samsung appears likely to reclaim its crown in the coming months. Samsung recently introduced the Galaxy S8, the latest version of its flagship phone, which will come to market in the next few weeks.