Samsung Electronics said sales and profits soared in the second quarter from a year ago, but increasing competition in smartphones hurt performance in its core mobile division.
The company said it booked a net profit of 7.77 trillion won (US$6.89 billion) during the April-June period, up 50 percent from a year earlier. Sales were up 21 percent to 57.5 trillion won.
The strong showings were marked by strong quarterly gains in every division except its core mobile business. Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S4 in April with a massive global marketing campaign, after introducing it at an event in New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The company said increased marketing costs and competition hurt its profitability during the period, pulling operating profit down 3 percent even as its sales increased.
Executives hinted in an earnings conference call that new high-end phones are on the way, noting that the product cycle of smartphones is now about a year and its component business expected a boost from new advanced handsets in the second half of the year. Jeeho Baek, an executive in Samsung's semiconductor business, said he expected more demand due to the company's "planned launch of a flagship smartphone model."
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