Samsung's second-quarter operating profit is expected to be about $7 billion–the highest quarterly profit it has earned in about two years–when it officially reports its Q2 financials later in July, according to preliminary figures the company released on July 8.
The estimated operating profit of $7 billion (8.1 trillion Korean won, or KRW) is also higher than forecast by a Thomson Reuters survey of 16 analysts.
The higher profit is good news for the company, which has been working in the last year to battle its way back from several tough quarters caused largely by cheaper phones from global competitors and shrinking sales as consumers waited to buy Apple's latest iPhone 6 models when they went on sale last September.
The company also estimated it will bring in revenue of about $43.5 billion (50 trillion KRW) for the quarter, up from about $41 billion in revenue one year ago.
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The estimated operating profit is the highest since the company posted an 8.5 trillion KRW operating profit in the first quarter of 2014, according to a story by Reuters. Samsung's mobile division, led by its flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones (pictured)–which were released in March–likely was the best performing division for the company in the quarter, reported Reuters.
In the first quarter of 2016, which ended April 28, Samsung posted revenue of $43.8 billion (49.78 trillion KRW) and net income of $5.58 billion (6.68 trillion KRW), which were up 5.7 percent from 47.12 trillion KRW in revenue and up 12 percent from 5.98 trillion KRW in profit from the same quarter one year prior. The 49.78 trillion KRW in revenue exceeded the 49 trillion KRW the company announced in early April when it released preliminary estimates based on early figures.
Those first-quarter successes were also led by strong sales of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones, the company said at the time. Samsung threw the dice in March and released the flagship smartphones a month earlier than usual, which is apparently paying off.
The latest second-quarter news is another breath of fresh air for the beleaguered smartphone, consumer appliance, display and semiconductor company, especially after a run of tough financial quarters over the past two years as it fought stiff competition from Apple's iPhones and others.
Samsung's latest Galaxy S7 Edge and S7 handsets, which debuted March 11, are water-resistant and are powered by Qualcomm quad-core 2.15GHz/1.6GHz processors for U.S. users and include 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, 32GB of built-in storage, microSD expansion slots, a 12-megapixel dual-pixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The Galaxy S7 Edge features a 5.5-inch quad-HD Super AMOLED display and a screen that wraps around both right and left edges of the device, while the Galaxy S7 has a 5.1-inch quad-HD Super AMOLED display.
Both phones are water-resistant and offer increased performance and vastly improved photographic capabilities compared to the company's earlier smartphones.
Samsung hasn't been the only smartphone company having a rough time in the marketplace recently. In April, Apple reported a quarterly decline in revenue for the first time since 2003. Apple's second-quarter revenue fell 13 percent to $50.6 billion from $58 billion a year earlier. Net income in that interval fell to $10.5 billion from $13.6 billion as iPhone sales leveled off, ending Apple's 13-year record of uninterrupted sales growth.
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