Samsung Signals Rebound With Improved Profitability For Q4

Samsung said sales in the quarter were between 38 trillion and 40 trillion Won ($33.6 billion and $35.4 billion). The company stressed that the "pre-earnings guidance" results are preliminary and subject to approval by the company's board of directors.

The earnings announcement comes as Samsung unveils a slew of new products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including an application marketplace with downloadable software that extends the functionality of televisions, Blu-Ray DVD players and mobile devices. Today the company is expected to unveil an electronic reader to compete with Amazon's Kindle, Sony's E-Reader and similar products.

Samsung, a major manufacturer of televisions, semiconductors and mobile phones, reported a loss of 740 billion Won ($652.9 million) for last year's fourth quarter. A Bloomberg story said higher prices on memory chips and increased demand for flat-panel televisions helped fuel the company's revenue growth in the quarter.