Apple's Share of Worldwide Smartphone Market Slides as Samsung Continues to Surge

BC2009 said:

Reporting financial amounts is not the same as reporting unit sales. If Samsung was really selling that many smartphones they would be yelling it from the roof tops. I think Samsung's financial results are 100% accurate (as far as accounting goes).

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So you still claim that they aren't selling well? Really?

Macboy Pro said:

Not a surprise, the iPhone looks antiquated compared to some of the newer droids like the HTC one X and the Samsung Galaxy SIII. If the iPhone 5 Rumors are true, its not going to be pretty as the iPhone will continue to slip


Wake up Apple!

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This about sums it up. And I agree. There's so many people I know jumping ship. Can't believe it. Apple need to keep on the edge of the game. Most people are saying it's because iphone is getting tired. The also cite that if the screen is only stretched on the iphone 5, then that's totally lame. They are looking for something new, and that large screen on the S3 is tipping the decision.

Taller iphone but same width in my opinion is a bozo idea - and in the words of Steve Jobs himself:

Steve Jobs: “Your phone is the dumbest ********** idea I have ever heard”

That might be said of iphone 5... we shall see.

BC2009 said:

I always love these analysts. They can't seem to peg earnings on Wall Street, but we are suppose to take their numbers as fact when so many manufacturers (including Samsung) do not provide actual sales figures. Just look at the recent spread on 48 analysts trying to guess how many iPhones Apple sold in the quarter and then think about how the average was close. In this case we don't have 48 analysts, but one firm putting their numbers out. For all we know they are at the high end or low end or middle of the spectrum in their guess on the number of phone shipments.

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Completely agree. I don't know where they pulled that 68% marketshare for iPad from. Unless it's coming directly from the source, all these "analysts" shouldn't be trusted.

spiderman0616 said:

I really don't know why we have to keep harping on this. They beat their guidance once again. They grew in every area except the iPod. They're selling crazy amounts of iPads. And all this is aside from the fact that they're up from this time last year but had the same exact kind of slowdown. This was an expected slowdown that everyone knew would happen and until Apple breaks their "every fall" release cycle for the iPhone, it's going to keep happening.

The headlines all make it look like Apple missed earnings. Really what happened is that they missed Wall Street's unrealistic expectations.

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What makes me curious is the fact that Apple managed to surpass Wall Streets unrealistic expectations in the past, but failed to do so this time.

G51989 said:

This is bound to happen, Apple goes with a " one phone fits all approach ", which is fine, but when another phone maker starts offering different phones at different price points, the consumers will start look there as well..

iPhone is great, but even with the 5. It won't be king forever.

Just to make that clear, yes. Apple created a huge storm with some of its products, and has stayed top dog.

But they won't be number 1 forever. Just isn't possible. Eventually, someone will come along with something that people like more. Who knows when.

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Apple is still #2 in the global smartphone market... and #3 in the global phone market as a whole... in unit sales.

But with billions of dollars in profit every quarter... suddenly being #2 or #3 isn't so bad.

You might ask "who cares how much money a company makes?"

I could ask "why does it matter how many phones a company sells? You only buy ONE phone... every 2 years..."

This whole thing is just a fanboy pissing match anyway. Neither Apple nor Samsung is going out of business anytime soon...

What I don't fully understand is why so many people bring up Apples profits in these discussions, yes profits are important. But are largely not important in a debate over marketshare, aka who has more users.

Also, why do some people get so excited over Apples profits? Like they had something to do with it.

As a consumer, you shouldn't care about someone elses money. Unless you own lots of that companies stock.

GorgonPhone said:

lol same silly talk at the same time of the year every year.. the only phone that kills the iPhone is the new iPhone FACT

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Not fact.

The iPhone 4 was still the second most popular smartphone according to a study done during the holiday season. Sorry, but going from first to second place doesn't scream "kill" to me.

LagunaSol said:

Keep on rooting for that Korean maker of refrigerators, microwaves and smartphone knockoffs, Fandroids.

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So? They make damn good appliances. What if Apple made an oven? It would only run at one temp, cost 15 grand, and explode every 2 years

Comming soon...iFlush....sorry. no multi tasking!

Smartphone knock off? Pretty sure apple didn't invent the smart phone.

chrmjenkins said:

An android buyer may have a more recent set of choices, but the top phone makers have subscribed to apple's yearly update cycle concept. Galaxy S3, HTC One X and such phones are manifestations of that once a year flagship phone type cycle. It's just that you have many more players in the android game.

However, if this mini-iPad becomes a reality, I think apple will have to recognize that consumers do want different size screens and that approach has value too. If developers are willing to commit to a variety of screen sizes and devices on a less lucrative app store, they'll commit to 2 screen sizes on the most successful app store.

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WTF? I mean, really, where do you live...

...o.K., granted teh big things are announced every year on MWC (so you are right with your yearly cycle) Samsung drops a flagship product nearly every quarter. You know about the Galaxy Note 2?

Face it - the competition is not only stiff but Android devices are currently leapfrogging each other. Remember the new Sony Experia line? They currently offer the best camera on the planet and next quarter Sony will also give us the quad-core treatment.

Honestly Apple's bully tactic has lost them a tremendous amount of loyal customers (me included). And guess what: I LOVE my SGIII. The swipe-shortcuts on the lockscreen are really great.

that1guyy said:

Here begins Apple's decline, and this time they don't have anyone to save them when they hit bottom.

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adildacoolset said:

atthis point in time I would've down voted you. But I can't

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And I would have down-voted you. The original comment has some merit.
I love apple products, and i reckon they've been great up until now... but many people share a concern that things are sliding.

Jobs did after all, bring apple back from the brink of extinction. Without his "out of the box" thinking, that may not have a chance to happen again if they lose their way.

I can't understand why so many fan-boys are in denial over these issues.

wickerman1893 said:

172% is incredible but I don't know how. The SIII is nice but not as nice as the 4S or Lumia 900.

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Because 2GB RAM is not as nice as 512MB RAM?

Oletros said:

So you still claim that they aren't selling well? Really?

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I believe they are selling well, but not that well -- not 172% year-over-year growth. When you are doing really well you let people know -- you include it in your quarterly financial report for your investors. Also, I'm sure the breakdown of which models are selling best for Samsung is being withheld because then you would see stuff in the news about how Apple's iPhone sold X times as many units as Samsung's flagship model and stuff like that. Samsung does not want these comparisons. They don't want to give their competitors insight into what is working and what is not.

Let's flip this around.... the most bullish of Apple analysts (Thembelani Kewtane of the Braeburn Group) pegged iPhone sales for last quarter at 38.5M units. He was off by a whopping 48% since Apple reported actual unit sales of 26M units. So to make this any more clear for you.... I don't buy NPD's numbers without Samsung actually reporting hard numbers. NPD represents a single data point for a single analyst and not an industry consensus. Last quarter they were the most optimistic of all analysts who tried to guess at how many units Samsung sold. If they were off by 48% from the actual numbers then it would mean Samsung only sold 34M units rather than the 50.2M units estimated by NPD. It would mean 89% growth rather than the 172.8% growth that NPD is reporting.

Samsung is performing great, but I doubt it is as well as NPD is saying because if it was that good Samsung would be openly publicizing it rather than hiding the numbers in their accounting.

G51989 said:

What I don't fully understand is why so many people bring up Apples profits in these discussions, yes profits are important. But are largely not important in a debate over marketshare, aka who has more users.

Also, why do some people get so excited over Apples profits? Like they had something to do with it.

As a consumer, you shouldn't care about someone elses money. Unless you own lots of that companies stock.

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It's the same thing I ask about why so many people bring up units sales.

As a consumer, you shouldn't care about someone elses phone.

The most important phone is the one you have... who cares what everyone else has.

marcusj0015 said:

I'm starting to worry that Faildroid may win, Apple NEEDS free iPhones and they need prepaid iPhones, they need them everywhere if they want to win, and honestly, without the iPhone, Idk what's in Apple's future.

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Who cares if apple wins. These #'s don't mean crap. Apple releases 1 phone yearly compared to a plethora of Samsung phones released almost monthly. Apples formula works for apple. As long as they keep producing innovative iPhones, year after year, they are going to sell them. And as long as any reputable competition exists, it's great for us apple loving consumers. This article is great news for us all the way around.

FactVsOpinion said:

That's exactly right. And I'd venture to say that Samsung's lead in number shipped comes from the products that ARE offered cheaply, and not from the "top of the line phones".

In other words, if we removed all of the cheaper Samsung phones from the equation and kept only their top phones, they would likely be selling no more than Apple, perhaps fewer.

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Well, extrapolated from this piece of news they sell 5 million SGIII per month. Not too shabby, if you ask me...

Rennir said:

Completely agree. I don't know where they pulled that 68% marketshare for iPad from. Unless it's coming directly from the source, all these "analysts" shouldn't be trusted.

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Apple is the only one reporting actual unit sales of tablets. Everybody else is reluctant to talk about their tablet sales unit numbers. One year Samsung said sales were "quite slow" and then tried to say that they really said "quite smooth". I have an idea.... how about an actual number? All mobile web traffic reports show iOS on iPhone in a far-and-away lead. For tablets it is even more ridiculous with over 95% of tablet traffic coming from iPad. Are the folks who buy these Samsung phones and tablets simply not using them to surf the web? Maybe not -- maybe the app ecosystem is so good they never use a Web browser.... oh wait... that's can't be true either.

I would love to see real numbers on all this. Not so I can go around touting how great Apple is, but so the analysts would be embarrassed for how badly they estimate these things.

BC2009 said:

Apple is the only one reporting actual unit sales of tablets. Everybody else is reluctant to talk about their tablet sales unit numbers. One year Samsung said sales were "quite slow" and then tried to say that they really said "quite smooth". I have an idea.... how about an actual number? All mobile web traffic reports show iOS on iPhone in a far-and-away lead. For tablets it is even more ridiculous with over 95% of tablet traffic coming from iPad. Are the folks who buy these Samsung phones and tablets simply not using them to surf the web? Maybe not -- maybe the app ecosystem is so good they never use a Web browser.... oh wait... that's can't be true either.

I would love to see real numbers on all this. Not so I can go around touting how great Apple is, but so the analysts would be embarrassed for how badly they estimate these things.

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I'm using a Kindle Fire. I use the video on demand, Netflix and web browser. So there.

SpectatorHere said:

This is a major problem because these kids create the demand. Apple needs a game changer like the iPhone 4 was--something no one has seen before.

Doesn't look like Tim Cook understands....but we shall wait and see.

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It would appear that Tim Cook certainly doesn't understand.

I feel that the next iphone will be the acid test.

Wake up apple!

U can't keep release iterative phones like the iPhone 4s on your quest for mobile domination!

I want a new iPhone redesign every year and I want it now damnit!!!!

Steve jobs would never allow for this

blackcrayon said:

<Tim Cook Memo To You> Why didn't you post this 12 months ago? It's too late to change anything now

I'm pretty sure no matter *what* Apple releases, some people will justify it as a "minor" upgrade that isn't enough.

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I think if the next phone come out with a screen like the S3, people would be over the moon. That would be the wow moment. Hell, even I'll stand in line.

smoledman said:

I'm using a Kindle Fire. I use the video on demand, Netflix and web browser. So there.

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And why won't Amazon tell us how many Kindle Fire units they are selling? I would just like some transparency. BTW.... how do you like the Fire? Do you think you would trade it in for the Nexus 7 or do you like Amazon's ecosystem better than Google Play?

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NedBookPro said:

I think if the next phone come out with a screen like the S3, people would be over the moon. That would be the wow moment. Hell, even I'll stand in line.

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And then Samsung can sue Apple for copying their design, right?

Unless Apple step up and make a few different model iPhones to cater for peoples screen size preferences the likes of Samsung will continue to grow in market share, the proof is the fact i am a HUGE Apple fan but even i have switched to a HTC One XL Android phone simply for the bigger screen. Wake up Apple!!!

BC2009 said:

And why won't Amazon tell us how many Kindle Fire units they are selling? I would just like some transparency. BTW.... how do you like the Fire? Do you think you would trade it in for the Nexus 7 or do you like Amazon's ecosystem better than Google Play?

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I would definitely not trade it in for a Nexus 7, as I prefer Amazon's locked-down app store. No malware worries for me! I am looking forward to the Kindle Fire 2. I'm always going to have a Fire because of Prime content.

BigJohno said:

Good to see Apple getting some heat. They need this in order to keep innovating.

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I don't know, Apple always innovate with or without the heat.

Seeing this numbers i can only figure Apple is selling a lot of units!

Who is saying iOS is outdated doesn't have a clue imho. iOS is just perfect as mobile OS, simple, fast, complete and with a lot of quality software.

Btw any other loyal iPhone user finding iOS a bit long in the tooth

Give us widgets dammit and better notifications