Samsung logs record high profit in 3Q

Strong sales of Galaxy phones propelled Samsung's quarterly profit to a record high, but its shares dropped Friday on the prospect its growth will slow in an increasingly crowded smartphone market.Samsung Electronics Co. said July-September net profit nearly doubled to 6.56 trillion won ($5.97 billion) from 3.44 trillion won a year earlier. Revenue for the third quarter climbed 26 percent to 52.2 trillion won.The company's shares fell as much as 2 percent in Seoul after the earnings announcement. Analysts said investors are worried that the widespread adoption of smartphones in developed markets and heightened competition from rivals could squeeze profit from the lucrative smartphone business. Samsung and Apple Inc. together account for nearly half of global smartphone sales.The South Korean company, which raked in more than half of its profit and revenue from its mobile communications business, said its Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II smartphones will help sustain its earnings momentum in the final quarter of the year.Samsung also plans to act more aggressively to advance its share of the tablet PC market next year, its vice presidents Kim Hyun-joon and Robert Yi said at a conference call with investors.Click here for full story