South Korea's Samsung Electronics says it expect to earn an operating profit of 8.7 trillion won ($7.4 bn) in the first quarter of 2013, up 52.9 per cent from a year earlier.
Samsung, the world's largest technology firm by revenue, was giving earnings guidance before official results are made available later this month.
The January-March operating estimate comes after a record quarterly operating profit of 8.8 trillion won posted in the fourth quarter of last year.
Samsung profits soared in 2012, largely on the back of sales in the lucrative smartphone market.
Sales in the first quarter of 2013 were expected to reach 52 trillion won, up 14.9 per cent from a year earlier, but down 7.2 per cent from the previous quarter.
While Samsung overtook Nokia as the world's largest mobile-phone maker and Apple in smartphone sales last year, Apple was twice as profitable as Samsung in terms of gross profit margin, analysts say.
Mobile devices generate the bulk of profits at both companies. Analysts say an increased presence in the high-end market will be crucial for Samsung in maintaining margins for its mobile business amid stiff competition.
"Samsung still lags behind Apple in the high-end market", which is where the money is, Lee Sun-Tae, a Seoul-based analyst with NH Investment and Securities told Dow Jones Newswires.
