The cash keeps rolling in for Samsung with 40m Galaxy S4 sales and record profits

Global sales of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4 handset have reached the 40-million mark six months after the device first hit the market. The news comes at the same time as the Korean tech company announced record profits for its most recent financial quarter.

While 40 million sales in six months is a great stat in anyone’s book, demand for the high-end handset has been easing up in recent months, with only five million units shipping in August compared to 10 million in its first month of availability.

As we push toward the end of the year, sales could slow further with some consumers who’re interested in the model deciding to hold back until the launch of the S5, which is widely expected to hit the market early next year.

The Android-powered S4, with its 5-inch 441-PPI display, 13-megapixel camera, and multitude of features, appears to be selling at about the same speed as its predecessor, the S3, which sold in similar numbers in its first six months on the market in 2012.

Looking at rival handsets, the top-of-the-range phone looks to be performing relatively well, with only the iPhone standing in its way. Apple’s popular handset clocked up 31.2 million sales in the three-month period from April to June this year.

Strong sales of Samsung’s flagship device, as well as of its vast array of other mobile phones and tablets, helped take it to a record-breaking quarter, with the company on Thursday announcing operating profits of 10.2 trillion won ($9.6 billion), marking a 26 percent increase on a year earlier. A recovery in its memory chip business was also a factor in its strong performance from July to September.

Samsung said it expected sales of its smartphones in the coming months to “gain momentum due to year-end promotions over the holiday season and an improved line-up of mass-market smartphones.”

In a bid maintain consumer interest and keep the cash rolling in, the electronics giant has been pumping out a slew of innovative products in recent months, among them the Galaxy Gear smartwatch and the Galaxy Round, a smartphone featuring a curved display. 

DT’s review of the Galaxy S4