Samsung Electronics’ smartphone business enjoyed about a 40-percent growth in operating profit in the first quarter of this year compared to a quarter ago, indicating that its smartphone business is entering a phase of recovery.
According to industry sources on April 26, Samsung Electronics’ IM division, which is responsible for smartphones, posted an operating profit of 2.7 trillion won in the first quarter, far higher than the market consensus set at 2.4-2.5 trillion won. This figure is up 38 percent from 1.96 trillion won a quarter ago.
Analysts attributed the higher-than-expected results to Samsung’s strong cost saving efforts and the effect of the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.
Samsung Electronics officially released the Galaxy S6 worldwide on April 10. The pre-orders made by global telecom companies were reflected partially in Samsung’s March results.
The operating profit of the DS division, which is responsible for semiconductor and display businesses, also grew slightly to 3.4 trillion won.
In contrast, the CE division, which manages consumer electronics business, suffered an operating loss of 130 billion won in the first quarter in a turnaround from a 180-billion-won profit a quarter ago.
