Samsung Electronics forecast strong growth in revenue and profit in the third quarter as the company rolled out new models of its smartphones and tablets, including products for emerging markets.
The South Korean maker of the Galaxy smartphones and tablets said Friday that its third-quarter sales increased 13 percent to 59 trillion won ($55 billion).
Operating income also grew by 25.3 percent to 10.1 trillion won, Samsung said in a stock exchange filing. The company does not provide information for net income in the earnings guidance.
Samsung is targeting smartphones at various segments of the market at many price points giving it the lead in large emerging markets like China and India.
It launched last month at the IFA electronics show in Berlin the Galaxy Gear, a watch that will allow users to see details of some messages received by the phone, answer and place calls, run a number of apps written for the device and take pictures with an internal camera. The device is paired with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 smartphone.
The company was ranked as the eighth most valued brand this year, according to a report released this week by brand consultancy Interbrand.( The company saw its brand value go up 20 percent to $39.6 billion, as the brand continues to strengthen its position globally, spending more than $4 billion in marketing last year, and launching innovative products such as the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II, according to Interbrand. Rival Apple was ranked number one in brand value, outstripping Coca-Cola for the first time.
Samsung reported in July that its operating profit reached 9.53 trillion won on revenue of 57.46 trillion won. Net profit for the quarter was 7.8 trillion won. During that quarter the company had a 33 percent share of the smartphone market to 13.6 percent for Apple’s iPhone. It trailed Apple in tablets in the second quarter of 2013, with a 18 percent share of the market to Apple’s 32 percent.
Smaller rival HTC on Friday swung to a net loss of NT$2.97 billion ($101 million) on revenue of NT$47 billion in the third quarter. The performance of the Taiwanese company, which had posted a profit in the previous quarter, reflects stiff competition in the mobile market both from larger players like Samsung and small players in China.