Samsung Electronics has cemented its position as the world’s second biggest handset vendor, disclosing handset sales of 227 million in 2009.
The South Korean firm said it sold 69 million mobile handsets in the fourth quarter of 2009, a yearly increase of 16%.
The company returned to the black in Q409, with net income hitting 3.05 trillion won ($2.61 billion), compared with a 22 million won net loss in the same quarter of 2008.
Higher phone sales and increased prices for computer memory chips helped to boost the year on year profits, which sunk into the red for the first time in the company’s history in 3Q09 in the aftermath of the global economic slump.
The company describes the results as a “strong performance.”
But on a sequential basis, net profits were down 18% on Q309, while operating profit fell 14% quarter-on-quarter to 2.37 trillion won.
Samsung said Q409 sales reached 25.32 trillion won, a year-on-year jump of 37%.
The company expects “positive growth across its businesses in 2010," with higher demand for mobile devices, laptop PCs and flat screen TVs.
The results come amid reports that Samsung Electronics VP and engineer, identified only by his surname “Lee”, has committed suicide.
Lee was named a “Samsung Fellow” in 2006 for his engineering contribution to the firm.