The South Korean tech giant's estimate for first-quarter operating profit handily beat market forecasts and has boosted hopes that its struggling mobile business will post its first annual profit gain in three years, benefiting from an improved performance for mid-to-low tier devices and cost-cutting efforts.

Samsung said January-March operating profit was likely to be $5.7 billion, well above profit expected by Wall Street. The firm will release more details in late April.

Analysts had lifted forecasts for Samsung earnings since late March encouraged by reports of better-than-expected sales of its Galaxy S7 models, which boast an improved camera, waterproofing and microSD storage support. Samsung's mobile business was probably the top earner for the first time in seven quarters, analysts say.

All this is bad news for Apple. The only thing it has to take on the S7 is its iPhone SE which is a two year old design with a better chip. It is also out of the price range of the S7.