Motorola surprise Q3 profit report isn’t alone today. Samsung has reported a profitable Q3 2009, with the electronics giant’s mobile phone division shipping 60.2 million mobile phones in the latest quarter, a 16% increase from the same period last year. That’s a new record for Samsung. And, thanks to higher demand for touchscreen handsets, Samsung reported a Q3 profit of $875 billion, a 23% year-on-year improvement.
Samsung claims 20.8% of the global mobile phone market, following only behind Finnish handset giant Nokia. Those kinds of global sales figures haven’t been seen outside of Nokia since Motorola went to town with their RAZR in 2006. The push towards touchscreen handsets has clearly been working to Samsung’s advantage.
Samsung is also looking forward to a stronger Q4 fueled by consumers shopping for holiday gifts and emerging markets ready to adopt mobile technology. Still, competition from low- to mid-rand handsets from other manufacturers might be an issue for Samsung.
Samsung press release (PDF)