Soaraway sales of the Galaxy smartphone drove record quarterly profit of US$5.9 billion (S$7.46 billion) at Samsung, though the South Korean tech giant is fretting over how Europe's debt crisis is denting demand in its biggest market for televisions and home appliances.

In its April-June earnings guidance this morning, Samsung, valued at US$170 billion and the world's leading maker of TVs, smartphones and DRAM memory chips, estimated operating profit jumped 79 per cent to 6.7 trillion won (S$7.47 billion) from a year ago.

The average forecast in a Reuters survey of 23 analysts was for 6.67 trillion won. That forecast had been revised down slightly due to delays in shipping the latest Galaxy S III smartphone. The estimated second-quarter profit is 14.5 per cent higher than the previous record quarterly profit of 5.85 trillion won in the first quarter.

Samsung estimated its second-quarter revenue at 47 trillion won, just below a 50 trillion won forecast.

Samsung is due to release its full second-quarter results - the first since former components chief Kwon Oh Hyun took over as CEO - towards the end of this month.

Samsung's flagship Galaxy smartphones are likely to have stretched their lead over rivals Apple and Nokia - despite a parts shortage that meant it struggled to keep up with stronger-than-expected demand for the S III model.

TODAY