Samsung Profits Climb 82% Big Demand For Galaxy Note 5

The world’s No.1 maker of memory chips and smartphones said
revenue rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier to 51.7 trillion won helped by
increased sales of their popular Galaxy Note 5.

“In the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings to
decline from the earlier quarter, as it does not expect the foreign exchange
rate to have a positive effect,” Samsung said in a statement.

It said the won’s weakness against the U.S. dollar led to an
800-billion-won gain during the July-September period.

The mobile division’s profit rose to 2.40 trillion won from
1.75 trillion a year earlier.

In the company’s key smartphone business, Samsung said it
saw a significant increase in sales after it sped up the launch of its flagship
Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 series phones to try and get an edge on rival
Apple.

The success of that strategy has some speculating that its
next flagship handset, presumed to be called the Galaxy S7, will be launched a
month earlier than normal in January.

However, Samsung profits in the mobile phone business fell
slightly from the previous quarter, after the company cut the price of the
Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to help boost sales. It also sold a higher percentage of
cheaper, low- and mid-range phones.

IDC said on Wednesday that it estimates Samsung shipped 84.5
million smartphones during the quarter. That put it far ahead of nearest rival
Apple, which shipped 48 million iPhones, and third-placed Huawei with 26.5
million shipments.

But the chip division remained the top earner for the
fifth-straight quarter with a record 3.66 trillion-won profit.

Healthy third-quarter returns have boosted hopes that
Samsung’s profit recovery remains intact, although investors remain sceptical
about Samsung’s ability to return to the record profits it posted in 2013.

Despite a major overhaul of its product line up, researcher
TrendForce says Samsung’s smartphone shipments will shrink for the first time
in 2015 due to competition from Apple.

The Company has not said how well their TV Division is
doing.