Samsung Sings of Handset Strength

There is no letup in sight for global mobile-phone sales growth.

Solid handset sales at No. 3 Samsung suggest another strong performance is in the books for the third quarter at cell-phone leaders Nokia (NOK Quote) and Motorola (MOT Quote).

South Korea's Samsung said Friday that mobile phone sales jumped 10% over the previous quarter to 26.8 million units shipped in the period ended Sept. 30. And though Samsung projects no growth in phone sales in the current quarter, the company raised its estimate for total industry growth this year to 15% over 2004 levels.

Reading into Samsung's results, analysts were encouraged by the fact that the company raised worldwide industry shipment-growth guidance despite calling for its own flat sequential handset sales in the fourth quarter. ...