Samsung has posted better than expected profits for the first quarter after an early release for its new Galaxy smartphones helped boost sales for high-end models.<\/p>\n
The South Korean electronics firm said earnings rose to 5.3tn won (\u00a33.2bn) in the January-March period, 14% higher than the same period last year. Group sales climbed 6% to 49.8tn won (\u00a330bn).<\/p>\n
It comes after rival Apple reported the first ever year-on-year decline in sales of its iPhone handsets.<\/p>\n
The profits boost for Samsung comes after a tough period when it has been squeezed by competition from iPhones at the higher end of the market and cheaper Chinese models at the other.<\/p>\n
Samsung launched the latest version of the Galaxy on 11 March, about a month earlier than its new phones launch last year.<\/p>\n
The updated Galaxy G7 models included new features such as expandable storage space and water resistance but were cheaper than previous versions.<\/p>\n
Lee Kyeong-Tae, vice president of Samsung’s mobile phones division, said market response to the Galaxy Edge model \u2013 with a curved screen \u2013 had been better than expected in major regions such as North America, China and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
He said: “They are almost sold immediately upon supply.”<\/p>\n
Analysts said the early debut for the new models and Samsung’s pricing strategy had helped boost sales during the quarter even though it had been a tough period for the iPhone.<\/p>\n
Samsung’s mobile division posted its biggest quarterly operating profit in nearly two years \u2013 up 42% from the same period in 2015 to 3.9tn won (\u00a32.4bn).<\/p>\n
Apart from its success with new high-end models, it saw better profitability from its lower-end models after streamlining that part of the business.<\/p>\n
Industry data suggests Samsung’s overall smartphone sales actually fell 1% year-on-year but this compared to a 16% decline for Apple.<\/p>\n
Operating profit for the firm’s chip division fell as prices were hit by falling demand for personal computers.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: Sky News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Samsung has posted better than expected profits for the first quarter after an early release for its new Galaxy smartphones helped boost sales for high-end models. The South Korean electronics firm said earnings rose to 5.3tn won (\u00a33.2bn) in the January-March period, 14% higher than the same period last year. Group sales climbed 6% to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":209917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n