Samsung announced impressive first quarter results driven by its mobile business, although it warned that in the coming months “global demand for smartphones is forecast to dampen, compounded by heightened competition”.

The company said that during the three months, growth was spurred by devices such as the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy SIII, while its Galaxy Tab 2 series “continued to sell consistently from the previous quarter”. This contrasted with the market slowdown in handset and tablet demand quarter-on-quarter, due to the usual seasonal drop-off following the bumper Christmas period.

The company also said that sales in its network unit improved quarter-on-quarter, led by increased sales of LTE infrastructure.

Looking forward, it said it expects “broadened market competition” led by new product launches and the expansion of the mid-to-low end smartphone and tablet markets.

In the smartphone space, it expects weak seasonality to continue through the second quarter, with demand to recover in the second half of the year. In the developed markets, smartphone demand will grow driven by the growth of LTE, while in emerging regions, the availability of mass-market smartphones will lead the way.

It said it will “strive to remain competitive amid difficult conditions by expanding the lineup of smartphones and tablets this year, starting with Galaxy Note 8.0 and the flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone”.

Sales in the mobile unit were KRW31.77 trillion ($28.6 billion), up 49.8 per cent year-on-year from KRW21.21 trillion.

The company did not give other figures for its mobile activities, although the IT & Mobile Communications unit – of which it makes up the lion’s share – saw an operating profit of KRW6.51 trillion, up 55.7 per cent year-on-year from KRW4.18 trillion, on revenue of KRW32.82 trillion, up 46.1 per cent from KRW22.47 trillion.

On a group level, the consumer electronics giant reported a net profit of KRW7.15 trillion, up 41.6 per cent from KRW5.05 trillion, on revenue of KRW52.87 trillion, up 16.8 per cent from KRW45.27 trillion.

Away from the mobile unit, Samsung said that demand from emerging markets stemmed further losses, but weak seasonality and a sluggish economy took its toll on sales of TVs and home appliances. Its PC business was impacted by “lacklustre global demand”.