Samsung Electronics, reporting Friday, said sales of its Android-based phones helped quarterly revenue rise 7 percent year on year to 41.87 trillion Korean won (US$37.57 billion) in the fourth quarter, a record quarterly high for sales. The company's net profit increased 13 percent year on year to 3.42 trillion won.

Despite the generally strong earnings reports, markets were down Friday. The decline in the markets was generally ascribed to investor concerns over unrest in Egypt, which has led in the country. After recent increases in several market indexes, fueled to a large degree by strong tech earnings, a big geopolitical event such as Egyptian unrest is bound to make investors dump shares, take profits and move from equities into safer investments. Nevertheless, computer companies on the tech-heavy Nasdaq are up about 30 percent from a year ago, and 5 percent for the year.