Samsung Electronics Co on Friday posted its highest-ever operating profit in the last quarter on sales of its Galaxy smartphones and the divestment of its hard-disk business, dpa reported. Operating profit in the three months to December was 5.2 trillion won (4.5 billion dollars), up 73 per cent from 3.01 trillion won a year previously, Asia's largest electronics manufacturer said. Revenue for the period was up 12 per cent year-on-year to 47 trillion won. For the whole year, operating profit was projected to reach 16.2 trillion won, and revenues up 164.7 trillion won, the company said. The company, whose Galaxy smart phone competes with the iPhone made by Apple Inc, sold more than 300 million mobile phones in 2011. Samsung is launching more mobile devices to compensate for a drop in demand for its computer chips and flat-screen displays. Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone sales in the third quarter. The two companies are involved in mutual intellectual property lawsuits in several countries, with Samsung accusing Apple of stealing its technology, and Apple claiming the South Korean company copied elements of the design and interface of its iPhone and iPad tablet computer. Samsung's operating profit for the last quarter was boosted by the sale of its hard-disk drive production business to Seagate Technology Plc. The 1.38-billion-dollar deal in cash and stock was announced in April, and declared complete in December.
