Riding the wave of gadget goodness from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung released a pretty impressive set of fourth quarter earnings estimates, including a record high profit. The South Korean electronics manufacturer says that it will make $8.3 billion in profits on $52.7 billion in revenue. That's a shade better than Apple's own record high profit of $8.2 billion on just $32 billion. Now, we could all day about the devilish details in the earnings reports and differences between the two companies revenue streams, but one things is brutally clear: Samsung is making more money than Apple, now. At least if its estimates are correct, they are.

Tim Cook and company can't be thrilled about this news. Apple's very publicly struggled with Samsung's roaring success in the smartphone business, so much so that it has peppered its competitor with patent litigation lawsuits around the world in an attempt to get its products pulled from shelves. Though Apple won a big decision in the United States last fall, Samsung's been doing pretty well in the appeals process, and it's increasingly looking like Apple will not have its ban.

Meanwhile, Samsung is still knocking the socks off of consumers. Just hours before releasing the glowing Q4 earnings estimates, the company pulled back the curtain on some pretty mind-boggling new TVs that will probably cost as much as a car but also shows that they're on the right side of the innovation curve. That would be the lucrative side.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Adam Clark Estes