Samsung has announced its fiscal Q4 2012 earnings, reporting $8.27 billion in operating profit, $52.45 billion in revenue, and $6.6 billion in net income.

As customers flocked tonstores to purchase handsets this Christmas season, Samsung's mobile unit, comprised of the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II, grew 4 per cent over the previous quarter.

That's total operating profit up 89 per cent year-on-year, while handset sales are up 58 per cent  on the same period, now accounting for more than 50 per cent of all operating profit.

That's 700,000 phones a day, or over 63 million smartphones over the past 90 days - a lot more than the still incredibly impressive 48 million iPhones sold by Apple. 

But don't count your chickens just yet. As the year continues, Samsung is predicting a slowdown in smartphone sales. According to its release to investors: "Expect intensified competition amid smartphone growth slowdown."

For the first quarter (January-March), Samsung expects smartphone and tablet sales to be weak, as new handsets are set to be announced in the spring and go on sale shortly after.

The company also detailed that it expects strong growth in emerging markets during 2013. "Expect intensified competition among tablet makers amid strong growth with emerging market expansion," according to the release.

Samsung's main competitor Apple announced record Q1 2013 earnings reporting $54.5 billion in revenue and $13.1 billion in net profit.