Samsung Electronics has again romped its way to record sales numbers in Q3 2012, pocketing $US7.4 billion in operating profits mostly on the back of close to 60 million Android smartphones the tech giant has shipped out in the period.

At least 20 million of the mobile phone units that Samsung had pushed out in the last quarter were tagged as Galaxy S3, further strengthening the handset's reputation as the closest rival there is for Apple's iPhone, which in the same quarter attracted 26.9 million buys, based on figures released by the U.S. tech firm on Thursday.

Its income as of the September quarter, Samsung said, grew by 91 per cent and revenue climbed by 26 per cent from the same period in 2011, capping a four-quarter run of flashing record results that prompted glee to Samsung officials and investors, analysts said.

The overall net income chalked up for the period, Samsung said on Friday, was $US5.97 billion, almost twice of the figures posted last year and pointed still on what is now established as the South Korean company's banner business operation - mobile phone making.

That division, Samsung admitted, delivered around 70 per cent of the firm's quarterly profit last month, which should remain the case in the months and quarters ahead as analysts had forecasted that the S3 would likely breach the 30-million mark by December 2012, once again powering Samsung to rosy sales figures in the closing quarter of the current year.

Yet strangely, the company appears cautious of its general prospect for Q4 as it allowed in a statement that the best effort will be poured to ensure that the latest figures will be sustained or even surpassed by end of December this year.

"We will do our best to sustain our earnings momentum throughout the fourth quarter by implementing strategies we have developed for our businesses," The Associated Press (AP) reported Samsung's Robert Yi as saying in a statement.

The realistic outlook, analysts said, is valid because competition in the mobile device market is heating up in unprecedented levels while Samsung's other lucrative operations such as computer chips and mobile display productions are encountering serious challenges.

For one, Apple seems bent on winding down its partnership with Samsung following years of productive relationship that saw the Asian firm supplying major component for the tech titan's hit mobile gadgets such as the iPhone and iPad in the past years.

Should that happen, Samsung could at least capitalise on the reenergised Windows ecosystem, which is expected to pick up considerable momentum in the upcoming quarters that in turn could spur higher manufacturing activities for smartphones and tablet computers, analysts said.

For a company that also thrives on the semiconductor segment of the tech world, such development would definitely be welcome for Samsung, experts said.

Nonetheless, Samsung will likely experience some form of easing down beginning in 2013 and Reuters said growth projections for the firm would likely spike by 16 per cent at most, a substantial downgrade indeed from the 73 per cent expansion forecast attached with the firm this year.

The company at least got to keep its smartphone crown and should hold on to it well into the December quarter this year, likely getting more boosts from the recent commercial rollout of the Galaxy Note 2, which is expected to conspire with the Galaxy S3 in racking up another record Q4 results for Samsung, analysts said.