Samsung Electronics is soaring after just posting record fourth-quarter earnings as fellow Asian tech firm HTC has reported a fall in earnings.

According to Samsung, its fiscal fourth quarter profits jumped 73 percent compared to the same period in 2010, thanks in big part to record-setting sales from its smartphone lineup.

For the fourth quarter, Samsung posted a 5.2 trillion won (about $4.5 billion) profit.

The Samsung profit for the fourth quarter was also helped by Seagate’s purchase of the South Korean company’s hard disk drive business.

Meanwhile, HTC posted a 26 percent fall in profit for the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2010.

Samsung is breaking records as HTC falls in fourth quarter profits. Image: justin_levy / Flickr (CC)

For the fourth quarter, HTC posted a net income of T$11 billion (about $365 million).

The HTC decline is the first time the company posted a fall in profits in two years.

Both Samsung and HTC are major players in the smartphone industry with their Android-powered smartphones.

However, HTC has been support the Google-backed Android mobile operating system longer than Samsung. It was the first firm to release an Android phone in 2007 and it also released the first Nexus phone, the Nexus One.

Samsung, however, has become the world’s biggest Android smartphone manufacturer despite only making a major push in the arena in 2010.

It has already made two “pure Android” Nexus phones, the Samsung Nexus S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .