Samsung has announced five million sales of its flagship Galaxy S smartphone but tempered such positive news with a statement that its third-quarter performance will be mixed. The South Korean electronics vendor expects consolidated operating profit of between KRW4.6 trillion and KRW5 trillion (US$4.1 billion to US$4.5 billion) for the first three months ended September 30. That would be higher than the KRW4.22 trillion recorded in the third quarter last year but less than the KRW5.01 trillion racked up in the second quarter of 2010. It estimated consolidated sales of between KRW39 trillion and KRW41 trillion for the third quarter, compared with sales of KRW35.9 trillion a year earlier. By way of comparison, Samsung’s mobile division represented 21 percent of total sales at the electronics vendor during the second quarter this year.

Meanwhile Samsung has sold five million Galaxy S phones since the line launched in June, two million of which were in the US and one million in Korea. This means that in just four months, Samsung has almost matched its smartphone sales figures from last year, Reuters reported. Samsung told Reuters it is looking to sell 25 million Galaxy S units in 2010, which might help boost its position in the global smartphone rankings behind Nokia, RIM, and Apple.