Samsung on Tuesday said it expects operating profit for the first quarter to come in at 5.9 trillion won (€5 billion).
That figure represents a decline of 30.5% on the same period last year, but is ahead of market expectations.
The South Korean vendor beat forecasts due to robust demand for memory, smaller than expected price cuts to clear handset inventory, and tight control of operating expenses, said analyst Richard Windsor, founder of Radio Free Mobile.
Windsor had predicted an operating profit of KRW4.62 trillion, while the consensus was KRW5.5 trillion, he said.
"The big question is what the next three months will bring as the Galaxy S6 will be generally available for most of the quarter and a lot is riding on this," said Windsor.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S6 in early March.
Windsor is cautious o n the impact the S6 will have. He described it as "a nice looking device," but warned that being a Google-powered phone it offers little opportunity for differentiation.
"Hence, I think Samsung will have to reduce pricing on this device more quickly than expected as it will rapidly become a commodity," he said.
Samsung did not share detailed results for the January-March period, but is due to publish its full figures later this month.
In the meantime, it said sales for the quarter reached around KRW47 trillion (€40 billion), down from KRW53.68 trillion a year ago.
