Samsung reports record Q3 profits of £4.8bn

Samsung has reported a 25% rise in third-quarter profits from the same period the year before to a record 8.24tr won (£4.8bn), driven mainly by revenues from memory chips.

Samsung’s mobile division still accounted for two-thirds of the operating profit, but sales are slowing as competition in the upper end of the smartphone market pushes down prices.

Analysts estimate Samsung sold 85 to 89 million smartphones during the quarter, noting that strong sales of low-end and mid-range smartphones covered falls in profit margins, according to the Telegraph.

Samsung said an upswing in shipments of mass market models helped to improve earnings.

"Despite currency depreciation in emerging markets, increased price competition and global market uncertainties, we were able to reach record earnings driven by solid earnings in our core businesses, including memory chips and smartphones," said Robert Yi, Samsung's senior vice-president.

"Although we expect demand to increase next quarter due to peak seasonality, lingering macro-economic issues and intensifying market competition will remain in the fourth quarter."

A lack of growth in sales of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S smartphones was offset by strong sales growth at the cheaper end of the smartphone market.

The semiconductor business saw the biggest gains, with a 12% increase in revenue compared with the previous quarter, with memory chips accounting for revenue of 6.37tr won (£3.9bn).

 Samsung's consumer electronics unit continued to struggle with margins at 2.9% as new demand for televisions remained weak.