The Samsung Galaxy S III is believed to be a significant factor in Samsung Electronics posting an estimated operating profit of 6.7 trillion Korean won (£3.8 billion) for the last quarter. This is up by 79 per cent over the same period (April - June) last year.

As well as the Galaxy S III launch itself, the company's other Galaxy smartphones have been performing well. However, it is believed that this part of its business is making up for poorer sales in other areas of consumer electronics, such as Samsung's TVs, AV products and chip manufacture.

Speaking to BBC News, analyst Andrew Milroy from Frost & Sullivan said that Samsung had profited from the Galaxy S III because it "got the timing right between two Apple launches".

But he warned that this success could be hiding less profitability elsewhere. "Some of its other business units haven't been doing too well," Milroy told the programme.

"To some extent, the smartphone business has been masking this. Most of their profits are coming from the smartphone business, so there are clouds on the horizon for some of the other parts of Samsung's business, for sure."

Samsung's own executives are also being cautious, mainly because of the fall of the euro in value against the Korean won - around 5 per cent since April.

"Europe is our biggest consumer electronics market and we may have to initiate cost cuts and product price increases should the euro fall further from the current level," the company reported.

"Our smartphones are flying off the shelves, with some outlets reporting 40 - 60 per cent sales growth, but that's distorting the overall trading outlook which is more challenging due to the weak global economy and a weak euro."