In sharp contrast to HTC's Q1 FY12 figures, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has disclosed very strong earnings estimates for the three months ending 31 March.

It think sales will come in around 45 trillion Won (around $40 billion), while operating profit will be a record 5.8 trillion Won (around $5.1 billion).

This is almost double compared to the same period a year ago.

In every pocket

Samsung Electronics makes everything from TVs to cameras, computers, printers, MP3 players as well as memory and storage media, but it's smartphones and tablets that are currently driving the business to new records.

The company has said it's sold five million of its Note phone/tablets, while the Galaxy S range of smartphones are Android market leaders.

Indeed, it's already been rumoured the forthcoming Galaxy S 3 has received pre-orders of 10 million from operators.

On the back of this sentiment, Samsung's shares have been rising steadily for the past seven months, hitting a peak of 1.35 million Won on Wednesday. This values the business at around $250 billion.

Samsung will release its audited accounts for the Q1 period on 27 April.

[source: Samsung]