Samsung Electronics has announced that sales and operating profits for the second quarter of 2012 both hit record highs. The available presentation materials show that the company's IT & Mobile Communications (IM) division made a significant contribution to the positive result.

Samsung reported second-quarter consolidated revenues of KRW47.6 trillion (US$41.8 billion), a 21% increase from the same period of 2011, with operating profits climbing 79% on year to KRW6.72 trillion. Both figures came in line with company guidance.

Among Samsung's businesses, the Digital Media & Communications (DMC) unit posted sales of KRW36.57 trillion in the second quarter of 2012, up 37% from a year earlier. In the DMC business, sales of its IM division registered an outstanding 60% rise with those generated from Samsung's mobile devices jumping 75%.

In contrast, Samsung's Device Solutions (DS) business which consists of its semiconductor and LCD divisions had an only 6% on-year growth in sales in the second quarter. The chip division actually experienced a sales decrease of 6% from a year ago in the second quarter of 2012 with sales generated from Samsung's memory products slipping by a larger 8%.

Samsung's semiconductor division - including memory and system LSI - saw its operating profits decline 38% on year in the second quarter of 2012. On the contrary, operating profits at its IM division were buoyed by robust sales of Samsung's Galaxy-series smartphones in the second quarter, jumping 124% from the same quarter of 2011.

Smartphone shipments soared in the second quarter, when Samsung enjoyed brisk sales of the new Galaxy S3 model as well as Galaxy Note devices, the company disclosed. Shipments of feature phones, however, decreased due to a slowdown in demand as well as seasonal weakness, the firm added.

As for memory products, Samsung indicated that PC DRAM demand remained weak despite a price rally in the second quarter, while sales of NAND flash chips were hit by lower prices. Nonetheless, Samsung noted that its system LSI business enjoyed a sales rise in the second quarter as demand for mobile application processors (AP) and CMOS image sensors (CIS) grew prior to new mobile product launches.

Looking forward, Samsung revealed that its system LSI division is expected to register solid sales growth in the third quarter of 2012, thanks to growing revenues generated from its 32nm process technology targeting mobile AP and CIS used in high-end mobile products. However, its memory division will continue to be mostly affected by unfavorable market situations - weakness in the PC DRAM sector and rising competition in the NAND flash market.

As to the IM division, Samsung expects to its smartphone sales to remain strong in the third quarter. Demand for its feature phones will also likely increase in the third quarter thanks to seasonal factors, the firm said.