Even without Christmas or the benefit of a new hit device, Samsung Electronics Co. posted near-record earnings in the first quarter. Profit is set to surge when the Galaxy S4 smartphone goes on sale this month.

The mobile-phone business again was the company’s biggest earnings driver, with sales of cheaper handsets in emerging markets supplementing growth by high-end Galaxy models. Operating profit rose to about 8.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion) in the three months ended March 31 from 5.69 trillion won a year earlier, Asia’s biggest technology company said today.

“Second-quarter profit looks even better than the first, as the Galaxy S4 will have a great impact,” said Chung Chang Won, a Seoul-based analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. “Samsung’s shipments of its flagship smartphone will outpace that of the iPhone sometime in the second or third quarter.”

Samsung is the world’s largest maker of smartphones, memory chips, televisions and flat screen panels. Counterpoint Technology Market Research said last month that it expected Samsung’s smartphone sales to top 70 million during the first three months of this year, further expanding its share in the global smartphone market. The market research firm estimated Apple’s iPhone sales to reach 35 million during the same period.

Samsung’s semiconductor business likely benefited from the shortages in memory chips used in personal computers, which spiked prices of Samsung’s key products. Global chip makers have reduced production of PC memory chips to increase chip supplies for mobile devices.

Operating profit for the quarter ended March 31 almost matched the record 8.84 billion won for the preceding quarter that included the year-end holiday season. Analysts estimate the current quarter could reach 9.3 trillion won as Samsung releases the S4 in the U.S. on April 26 and tries to reclaim the top spot in sales from Apple Inc.

The first-quarter profit exceeded the 8.38 trillion-won average of 39 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg before the announcement. Sales rose to about 52 trillion won from 45.27 trillion won a year earlier, Samsung said.

Samsung’s mobile division, which accounted for 67 percent of total operating profit last year, probably had a first- quarter operating profit of 6.25 trillion won as sales increased 40 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey of five analysts before today’s announcement. The company didn’t provide net income figures or results for individual businesses.

“In addition to the Galaxy S3, mini models sold well in emerging markets, including China, Brazil and India,” Lee Sei Cheol, a Seoul-based analyst at Meritz Securities, said by phone before the earnings release. “Samsung’s continued ascent in the smartphone industry seems to be unparalleled.”

Apple’s Lead

Samsung plans to release three high-end smartphones this year, including the S4, a new Galaxy Note and a device using the Intel Corp.-backed Tizen operating system. The handset market grew almost 12 percent last year to $358 billion in sales, according to IDC.

The South Korean company unveiled the S4, featuring a bigger screen and improved software functions, on March 14 in New York as it chases Apple in U.S. sales. The new phone, featuring a 5-inch screen, 13-megapixel camera and motion- detecting technology so users can control features with face movements, will be available globally by early May, Samsung said last month.

Cupertino, California-based Apple extended its lead over Samsung in U.S. smartphone subscriptions in the three months ended in February, research company Comscore said in a statement yesterday.

Apple’s average share of smartphone subscribers in the country rose to 38.9 percent, from 35 percent in the three months ended Nov. 30, the research company said. Samsung’s share rose to 21.3 percent from 20.3 percent.

(Bloomberg News and The Associated Press contributed to this report)