POSTED: Friday, April 27, 2012 - 9:30am
UPDATED: Friday, April 27, 2012 - 9:34am
NBC News — Samsung Electronics posted record high first quarter earnings to outshine handset rival Nokia. A London based market research firm estimated that Samsung shipped more smartphones than Apple and more cellphones than Nokia in the first three months of the year.
Samsung's first quarter profit rose 82% compared to the same period last year, and revenue was up 22%. Strong smartphone demand helped mask lower profit from the memory chip unit, which reported its lowest operating profit margin since the second quarter of 2009. Samsung took on Apple with Google's Android operating system and plans to release the Galaxy S3 next week.