Apple rival Samsung Electronics has posted profits of $12.65 billion for the June quarter, its highest quarterly revenues ever -- also eclipsing predictions for Apple's performance in the period, though the situation is likely to reverse once this fall's iPhones ship.
Samsung's profits were up 72.7 percent, while revenues rose 19.8 percent to $54.72 billion, according to Reuters. The South Korean company said its success can be credited largely to memory chip sales, including DRAM and NAND modules.
In fact its mobile division saw a 4.7 percent dip in profits, though sales of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ were reportedly 15 percent higher than for the S7 series.
In comparison, Apple's forecasts for the June quarter call for profits around $10.54 billion. The period is typically a slower one for the company though, with iPhone sales ebbing in anticipation of new models, and few other product launches filling in the gap.
This September Apple is expected to unveil three new iPhones, led by the "iPhone 8" -- typically rumored to have an edge-to-edge, 5.8-inch OLED display manufactured by Samsung. The latter firm has near total control of the smartphone OLED market, as companies like LG and Foxconn's Sharp are only now beginning to step up efforts.
The other two models, the "iPhone 7s" and "7s Plus," are rumored to have 4.7- and 5.5-inch LCDs. They may share some "8" features, such as wireless charging, but lack others like 3D facial recognition and/or a rear-facing laser for autofocus and augmented reality.