Samsung expects record fourth quarter profit, 35 million smartphones shipped

While HTC had a rough fourth quarter, the Samsung juggernaut is moving in the opposite direction, saying on Friday that it expected its Q4 numbers to jump 22 percent over Q3 for a profit of 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion), handily beating estimates and setting an all-time quarterly earnings record for the company. Of course, Samsung is a massive conglomerate with its hands in countless businesses ranging from microwaves to memory production — HTC is strictly focused on phones and tablets — but the Korean firm's phone business is in great shape as well: it's forecasting that it shipped 35 million handsets in Q4, up a full 25 percent against the quarter prior. Samsung is already the number one smartphone vendor in the world; Apple reports on January 24th, so we'll be tuned in to find out how the iPhone 4S (and the reduced-price iPhone 4) fared against one of the most impressive quarters a phone manufacturer has ever seen.