14 DAY TRIAL // Today, South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics announced its financial results for the second quarter of the ongoing year, and unveiled the fact that its sales in the mobile phone market went up by 22 percent when compared to the same time frame a year ago. According to the company, it managed to ship a number of 63.8 million handsets during the three months period, even if it faced increasing competition on the market.
This tight competition resulted in lower average selling prices, Samsung announced. However, its telecommunication businesses, including Mobile Communications and Telecommunication Networks, posted operating profit of 630 billion won on revenue of 8.78 trillion won. The units also announced operating profit margin of 7.2 percent.
30 percent of all mobile phones Samsung sold during the second quarter of the ongoing year were touchscreen devices, marking a significant increase when compared to the 15 percent of all handsets they accounted for a year ago. The company also notes that this increase in touchscreen devices sales is meant to show that it can strengthen its leadership in the area.
“In the second quarter, our component businesses performed very strongly, yet it was a more challenging quarter for our set businesses,” said Robert Yi, Vice President and head of Samsung Electronics’ Investor Relations Team. “With intensified competition throughout the digital media and mobile industries going forward, it may become a challenge to maintain current profitability levels. However, we will continue to focus on introducing differentiated products and widening our technology leadership in components to meet these difficult market conditions.”
When it comes to the third quarter of the ongoing year, Samsung says it expects to increase its market share in the smartphone segment courtesy of flagship devices like Galaxy S and Wave. It seems that the Android-based Galaxy S should end up on the airwaves of over 100 carriers around the world, including four major operators in the US. Mid-end smartphones are also expected to arrive on the market, the handset vendor concluded.
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