Galaxy phones power Samsung to record $5.2 billion profit

Samsung Electronics posted a record $5.2 billion quarterly profit as it shifted over 20,000 Galaxy smartphones an hour in January-March, outselling Apple’s iPhone in a duel for the lucrative high end of the mobile industry.

Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s South Korean group, whose $190 billion market value is 11 times that of Japanese rival Sony Corp, sold 93.5 million handsets in the first quarter – more than one in every four sold – according to Strategy Analytics, overtaking long-time handset leader Nokia. The total included 44.5 million smartphones, giving Samsung a 30.6 percent share of the high-end market. Apple’s sales of 35.1 million iPhones gave it a 24.1 percent share. “Samsung and Apple are out-competing most major rivals and the smartphone market is at risk of becoming a two-horse race,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. CLSA analyst Matt Evans said in a recent report that “Samsung’s smartphone success in the first quarter was the flip-side of Nokia’s disappointment.” The near duopoly in high-end smartphones is unlikely to come under much threat this year or next, according to Bernstein analysts, and Samsung will look to keep that momentum going next week with the launch in London of a third generation of Galaxy S, hoping to boost sales ahead of the summer Olympics, where the group is among the leading sponsors.