Samsung on track to overtake Apple in profits thanks to record-breaking quarter

Samsung has just released its Q2 2017 financial earnings report, revealing record-breaking results. The tech giant generated an operating profit of $12.7 billion and $9.7 billion in net profit — the highest in the company’s history.

These earnings mean that Samsung is on track to beat Apple in terms of operating profit for the second time in its history. The Cupertino-based giant is expected to generate “just” $10.6 billion in the same period. Of course, this part of the year is normally slower for Apple but will no doubt pick up once the new iPhone series is released.

Samsung’s record-breaking quarter is a result of high-demand for DRAM and NAND memory chips that caused prices to skyrocket. The company’s semiconductor division brought in $7.2 billion in operating profit in what analysts are calling a “memory super cycle,” which is expected to continue into the third quarter of the year.

The mobile division, on the other hand, generated $3.7 billion in operating profit thanks to the Galaxy S8 series. Sales of the company’s flagship devices are around 15 percent higher when compared with their predecessors. However, due to strong component prices, the operating profit was actually lower than in the same period a year ago.

Samsung also expects that earnings of the mobile division could decline in the third quarter of the year. This is because of the marketing expenses tied to the launch of the upcoming Galaxy Note 8, which will be announced on August 23 in New York City. Sales of the Galaxy S8 series, meanwhile, are also expected to slow down.