The forecast sales would make the S III, which went on sale on 29 May, the company’s fastest-ever selling smartphone. Shin added that the company is doing well in the low-end segment of the smartphone market.
The positive outlook counters market fears about the limited supply of parts for the new Galaxy device and the global economic situation putting pressure on earnings. The S III went on sale in the US last week but operators AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile were unable to offer the 32GB version due to supply issues, Reuters noted.
The launch of the first Galaxy S smartphone two years ago and its SII successor drove Samsung from having a smartphone market share of below 10 percent to recently overtake Apple as the market leader.
Between January and March this year, Samsung’s mobile division almost trebled its profit to hit US$3.6 billion. However, its shares dropped by 4.2 percent to their lowest level for more than four months today, as brokers cut their quarterly profit outlook for the company due to concerns about its chip and telecoms business.
According to Bloomberg, Taurus Investment and Securities reduced its estimate for Samsung’s second quarter profit to KRW 6.9 trillion (US$6 billion) from KRW7.2 trillion. JP Morgan meanwhile cut its forecast for Samsung’s Q2 smartphone shipments by 10 percent to 50 million units.
Comments