Samsung – the world’s second-largest handset vendor – shipped 64.3 million mobile phones in the first quarter, up 40 percent from a year ago, and expects higher sales and double-digit margins in the second quarter, driven by higher-margin smartphones. ASPs also increased slightly due to an “enhanced product mix.” The South Korean vendor also said today that smartphones based on its own operating system bada would amount to one-third of its total smartphone offerings this year. “Customer response for bada-based smartphones is very strong,” a Samsung executive told analysts. Wave (pictured), the first smartphone running bada, was unveiled at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in February. Earlier on Friday Samsung also said more than 50 percent of its smartphones would be based on the popular Android operating system developed by Google.

Sales at its mobile division rose 8 percent year-on-year, to KRW8.67 trillion (US$7.82 billion), whilst total telecom sales were up 5 percent to KRW9.18 trillion. Operating profit at the telecom division was down 1 percent to KRW1.10 trillion. Total company sales at Samsung Electronics were up 21 percent, to KRW34.64 trillion. Net profit surged a huge 596 percent, to KRW3.99 trillion. Investors cheered the results, sending Samsung shares 2.8 percent higher to KRW841,000 in morning trading. However, some analysts warned that future results may not be so rosy unless Samsung can improve its standing in the mobile smartphone space (today’s first-quarter results were largely buoyed by Samsung’s status as the world’s largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, flat screen televisions and liquid crystal displays).