Samsung Electronics recently announced that it has achieved record breaking profits this quarter. The second quarter saw the South Korean company generate total sales worth 57 trillion won (US$50 billion) of which 9.5 trillion won (US$8.26 billion) was profit. This represents an increase of 47% over last year.

Despite the massive earnings, the figures fell well short of analysts' projections and caused Samsung's stock to drop sharply. This is a fate shared by rival smartphone and tablet maker Apple which also saw a drop in its stock price despite huge profits.

Though Samsung makes a wide variety of consumer electronics as well as components for other manufacturers, it is the company's smartphone sector that has drawn the most attention recently. The company's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, sold more than 20 million units in the two months since its release, and shows no sign of slowing down.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Samsung's outlook looks bright. Several new products the company unveiled at its 'Premiere' last month have created a lot of excitement among consumers (such as the Galaxy S4 Zoom, the ATIV Q, and the ATIV Tab 3, among others) and should boost profits even further in the coming months. Whether this will reflect positively on stock prices though, is anyone's guess.

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