STRONG SMARTPHONE sales helped Samsung Electronics beat market expectations in the third quarter, as the world’s biggest technology company by sales achieved an operating profit increase of more than 85 per cent.

The robust performance came despite the fact that during the third quarter Samsung was embroiled in a US court battle with Apple, its main smartphone rival and largest components customer, which left it facing a bill of more than $1 billion for patent infringement. But strong global sales of its Galaxy smartphones – the main subject of Apple’s intellectual property infringement claims – enabled Samsung to record strong increases in revenue and profit, revealed in earnings guidance issued yesterday.

Revenue for the quarter was between $46 billion and $47.7 billion, up from $37.2 billion a year before. Operating profit was between $7.1 billion and $7.5 billion, up from $3.8 billion.

Despite the outperformance of the consensus forecast, Samsung’s shares closed just 0.2 per cent higher at Won1.37 million in Seoul. The stock has risen 62 per cent in the past 12 months. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012