Samsung storms second quarter results

Samsung Electronics reported on Friday its second-quarter profits rocketed 51 per cent, due in large part to a surge in mobile phone sales.

The South Korean company, which sells TVs and other consumer electronics, electronic components, and mobile handsets, reported a profit of $2.12bn on $18bn worth of sales.

The company said the jump in profits came as it sold 45.7 million handsets during the quarter, a 22 per cent hike in sales over the previous year. For the past year, Samsung has been gobbling up market share at the expense of its US rival Motorola. Last year, the company overtook Motorola as the number two handset maker in the world, behind Nokia, the worldwide leader.

But despite its strong sales in the second quarter, Samsung executives told investors and analysts that it expects the worldwide economic slowdown to affect sales in the second half of the year.

Samsung has seen great success with its smart phone the Instinct, which is sold exclusively in the US for Sprint Nextel's network. Sprint reported in June that the phone had sold out in the first week it was on the market.

Original article: Samsung profits rise on strong handset sales from CNET News.com