Samsung in the period also closed in on Nokia Corp. as the world's largest seller of all cellphones.
Samsung's telecom division, which accounted for 36% of revenue, provided more than half of the firm's operating profit and experienced its best profit margin since 2004. Smartphones provided about 31% of the division's revenue and more than 80% of its operating profit, analysts estimate.
Executives said they expected the fourth quarter to remain solid as demand for smartphones will remain high and sales for other consumer electronics products will enter their yearly peak season. Samsung is on track to report its second-biggest annual net profit ever after last year's record 16.2 trillion won ($14.64 billion).
Samsung's third-quarter net profit amounted to 3.44 trillion won, or $3.11 billion, in the July-September period. Samsung earned 4.46 trillion won in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was 41.27 trillion won, up 3% from 40.23 trillion won a year earlier.
The net figure was higher than the average 3.20 trillion won net profit forecast in a poll of six analysts by Dow Jones Newswires. The results helped boost Samsung's share price to 934,000 won, up 1.1% at 1:34pm local time, outpacing the Kospi's 0.5% rise.
The company since April has been engaged in a high-profile legal battle with Apple over smartphone and tablet computer patents and lost some preliminary court rulings in several countries. But Friday's results showed the dispute has had little impact on its performance.
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