Apple Overtakes Samsung to Become Largest Mobile Phone Vendor in U.S.

[Joesmith13245]

Originally Posted by kwfl

in the US only!

This is the key detail. Samsung has a more enriched global strategy than Apple when it comes to mobile devices. The "one size fits all" strategy Apple promotes may temporarily work in the US, however, it does not hold up in Europe, AMEA, and Latin/South America.

[kwfl]

Originally Posted by Plutonius

Does any other country really count .

Without subsidies, maybe not.

[samcraig]

Originally Posted by M-O

this also includes all of samsung's bottom of the barrel crap phones.

It also includes the iPhone 4s which you can get for $99 and also the 4 which you can get for free.

Why do people have to rationalize/marginalize these reports as if someone is forcing you to give up your phone and/or mocking your decision to own whatever device you own.

[pacalis]

Originally Posted by Plutonius

Does any other country really count .

There are other countries?

[alent1234]

Originally Posted by turtlez

I wonder if Samsung gets counted multiple times per person handing it back in for repairs. My brother's girlfriend's S3 is off to repair for the 3rd time since release. My dad's S2 is off to repair for the 1st time in 2 months. My brother's girlfriend's brother's S3 is off to repair for the 2nd time since release. My 3GS has been flawless since release. My Brothers iPhone 5 has been flawless since release. My mum's nokia 6300 has been flawless since release.

almost every apple product my wife and i have owned has needed repair

original ipod
my iphone 3gs
her iphone 4

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by NoNothing

Other sites (like Engadget in their standard Android love fashion) simply add the word "smart" in front of phone thinking this report is limited to only smartphones. Talk about being mis-leading.

The number was 26% of sales in all of 2012. 26% of all smartphone sales would be, well, nice. 26% of _all_ phone sales, including $10 phones hidden away in a drawer for emergencies, that's impressive.

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Originally Posted by blackhand1001

In the US. If you go worldwide apple gets obliterated.

Most valuable publicly traded company. Fourth largest quarterly profit of any company ever, and largest quarterly profit ever of any company that isn't in the oil sector. That's what I call "obliterated".

[dolph0291]

Originally Posted by slesnick3

Just pointing out that Apple took the lead for the last quarter most likely due to the timing of the release of the Iphone 5. Samsung was still significantly ahead for the entire year. The title of this article is a bit misleading and reads as though this is some sort of mega competition ala Super Bowl.

Thank gawd you're here to clear that up for all of us who read only headlines and otherwise walk around stupid in the dark. What would be do without you? We would probably have been under the mistaken idea that Apple did something better than Samsung. And that would be clearly wrong!

[bandrews]

Originally Posted by turtlez

I wonder if Samsung gets counted multiple times per person handing it back in for repairs. My brother's girlfriend's S3 is off to repair for the 3rd time since release. My dad's S2 is off to repair for the 1st time in 2 months. My brother's girlfriend's brother's S3 is off to repair for the 2nd time since release. My 3GS has been flawless since release. My Brothers iPhone 5 has been flawless since release. My mum's nokia 6300 has been flawless since release.

My dog's pedicurist's neice met someone who had been in a phone shop at the same time as someone was telling a sales assistant that their mother's SGS3 was broken.

But srsly, just because Windows PCs (in my living memory) have always outsold Macs, didn't stop Apple making hefty profits.
The problem with Samsung is the company itself is fragmented - never mind Android. I recently had to buy a case for my Mum's friend's Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (true story) and navigating the website was like wading through a treacle maze in the dark.
On top of that, they just have far too many SKUs to be working to the same margins/profits as Apple and for most consumers, that is too much choice. Look at the smartphone page on their site (in the UK). 28 Android phones. Think of a word and chances are it has a Galaxy phone named after it (with a Plus/Mini variant).
When people talk ecosystem, things like the website and retail stores need to be considered too. Not one other smartphone manufacturer has the high street presence or easy to navigate website that Apple does.
I'm not for a minute claiming that Apple should just sit back and watch Samsung eat itself (because it really can't afford to lose momentum) but I don't think it's doomed just yet - well maybe with geeks, but then the iPhone was never really designed for geeks.

[GenesisST]

Originally Posted by tshrimp

Don't companies usually look at the entire year when saying "overtake" and not just one quarter? Don't get me wrong, I am glad, but the title is a little misleading. A newer phone (ip5) vs older phone (SG3)= newer phone with better sales.

This is the same as radio market share: all stations everywhere are #1 in some category!

[SPUY767]

Originally Posted by slesnick3

Just pointing out that Apple took the lead for the last quarter most likely due to the timing of the release of the Iphone 5. Samsung was still significantly ahead for the entire year. The title of this article is a bit misleading and reads as though this is some sort of mega competition ala Super Bowl.

Samsung also makes a hundred phones, half of which are given away for free. I'd wager that most of the Samsung phones are sold to people who don't realize or don't care what brand of phone they're getting.

The thing about the iPhone is, you walk into a store and you ask for it. When I bought my 4, I had to threaten the salesperson after he twice informed me that I didn't really want an iPhone and would do better with some HTC. It's all the more remarkable that Apple does as well as it does given that carrier saleschimps are operating on orders to steer people away from the iPhone because carriers make less money on those handsets than one Android phones.

tldr: People who know what they want buy iPhones. People who don't know end up with Android.

[cappadonna]

Originally Posted by samcraig

It also includes the iPhone 4s which you can get for $99 and also the 4 which you can get for free.

Why do people have to rationalize/marginalize these reports as if someone is forcing you to give up your phone and/or mocking your decision to own whatever device you own.

Werent you rationalizing atts statement when you called people to task for it?

But now you're wondering why people are rationalizing this? That's not a flip flop?

[samcraig]

Pure FUD. Oh I'm sure you believe it. But FUD nonetheless

Originally Posted by SPUY767

Samsung also makes a hundred phones, half of which are given away for free. I'd wager that most of the Samsung phones are sold to people who don't realize or don't care what brand of phone they're getting.

The thing about the iPhone is, you walk into a store and you ask for it. When I bought my 4, I had to threaten the salesperson after he twice informed me that I didn't really want an iPhone and would do better with some HTC. It's all the more remarkable that Apple does as well as it does given that carrier saleschimps are operating on orders to steer people away from the iPhone because carriers make less money on those handsets than one Android phones.

tldr: People who know what they want buy iPhones. People who don't know end up with Android.

----------

Originally Posted by cappadonna

Werent you rationalizing atts statement when you called people to task for it?

But now you're wondering why people are rationalizing this? That's not a flip flop?

No. That's not flip flopping. Nor is it the flip flopping you're suggesting.

You wrote (in case you don't remember) "Remember when macrumors posted the article that att announced record iPhone sales? And how all the anti applers started saying that's not what att said! Knowing full well that logic and a little calculation would get you there(and of course Apple did have record sales at att) But guessing or interpreting what att meant wasn't allowed.

Now the same people are saying idcs guess is sound. Seems there's flip floppers on both sides although no one can produce a single flip flopper on the Apple side for some reason...

Now tell me - who is it you see as flip flopping. Who has said IDC is sound but ATT wasn't?

Not to mention - they aren't comparable things. ATT's press release didn't state X, Y and Z. It was interpreted by the media (here) that way. IDC flat out has made a report.

I sincerely ask - do you have a reading comprehension issue or logic issue here? Are you intentionally trying to create a strawman?

[smoledman]

Maybe Samsung should stop making really crappy phones and compete straight up on high end smartphones.

[Lennholm]

Originally Posted by iScott428

The Important figure here is the YOY growth for Apple and the lack of said growth for Samsung. It also should be mentioned that Apple only has 3 phones for sale, while Samsung has like ~10x that amount on the market.

The important figure is always the one that is favorable to Apple...

Originally Posted by SPUY767

Samsung also makes a hundred phones, half of which are given away for free. I'd wager that most of the Samsung phones are sold to people who don't realize or don't care what brand of phone they're getting.

The thing about the iPhone is, you walk into a store and you ask for it. When I bought my 4, I had to threaten the salesperson after he twice informed me that I didn't really want an iPhone and would do better with some HTC. It's all the more remarkable that Apple does as well as it does given that carrier saleschimps are operating on orders to steer people away from the iPhone because carriers make less money on those handsets than one Android phones.

tldr: People who know what they want buy iPhones. People who don't know end up with Android.

Well, a 3rd of Apple's phone MODELS are given away for free so...
The fact that Samsung has more phone MODELS doesn't necessarily mean new Samsung customers are spawned out of nowhere, you could just as well speculate that the customers are simply diluted over many more models, that the models are cannibalizing each other in which case the total sales are what's relevant.
Most of the people I know who bought a high end Samsung phone are technology interested people who very much care what phone they get while many of the people I see with an iPhone are soccer moms and the, supposedly, 'trendy' people who care most about being fashionable and spend all their evenings queuing for the most exclusive night clubs in the city.

To me it's just as likely that many of the people who buy iPhone simply got hooked on the iPhone hype and don't even care to look at the alternatives.

For the record, I don't even have a smart phone personally but use both iOS and Android devices regularly at work.

[Daws001]

That red is harshin' my eyeballs

[Wicked1]

Non related by Samsung's new commercial mocking Apple about Copyrights

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/...owl/?iid=HP_LN

[samcraig]

Originally Posted by Wicked1

Non related by Samsung's new commercial mocking Apple about Copyrights

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/...owl/?iid=HP_LN

Brilliant.

[Exio]

Originally Posted by SPUY767

Samsung also makes a hundred phones, half of which are given away for free. I'd wager that most of the Samsung phones are sold to people who don't realize or don't care what brand of phone they're getting.

The thing about the iPhone is, you walk into a store and you ask for it. When I bought my 4, I had to threaten the salesperson after he twice informed me that I didn't really want an iPhone and would do better with some HTC. It's all the more remarkable that Apple does as well as it does given that carrier saleschimps are operating on orders to steer people away from the iPhone because carriers make less money on those handsets than one Android phones.

tldr: People who know what they want buy iPhones. People who don't know end up with Android.

It costs a lot of money to set up assemblies and part sources for hundreds of different phones. Apple only needs to worry about a few, so they save a lot of money their. You also got your last statement wrong, people who have no idea what they want and those who don't know much about technology other than apple is a company buy iphones. Most people don't buy android because they DO know what they want.

[JAT]

Originally Posted by slesnick3

Just pointing out that Apple took the lead for the last quarter most likely due to the timing of the release of the Iphone 5. Samsung was still significantly ahead for the entire year. The title of this article is a bit misleading and reads as though this is some sort of mega competition ala Super Bowl.

Well, the Super Bowl wishes it could be as competitive as the cellphone market!

[bandrews]

Originally Posted by Lennholm

Most of the people I know who bought a high end Samsung phone are technology interested people who very much care what phone they get while many of the people I see with an iPhone are soccer moms and the, supposedly, 'trendy' people who care most about being fashionable and spend all their evenings queuing for the most exclusive night clubs in the city.

To me it's just as likely that many of the people who buy iPhone simply got hooked on the iPhone hype and don't even care to look at the alternatives.

For the record, I don't even have a smart phone personally but use both iOS and Android devices regularly at work.

That's the thing - the iPhone was the phone that made smartphones accessible to "soccer moms" and "fashionistas". Geeks have been using them since the very first........ er, whatever the first smartphone was but they were always unusable by mere mortals. I slowly managed to talk most of my friends into getting iPhones - not because they are the world's most tech advanced phones but because ios has the best feature:usability ratio of any other os/hardware. My mother could barely compose an email a couple of years ago - now she's on the ipad ebay app listing about 5 of her excess Gucci handbags a week.
If you're the kind of person who wants to obsess over clock styles and icon sets, go for Android. If you want a phone that just concentrates on well considered design and a more coherent app experience, go ios. But then everyone knows that already.

[jrswizzle]

Sorry for interrupting the RIVETING and INTELLIGENT conversation here....

Just want to point out that this is the first time since 2008 that Samsung hasn't been on top as far as total phone sales go.

Do whatever you want to do with this information.

[JackieTreehorn]

Originally Posted by Wicked1

Non related by Samsung's new commercial mocking Apple about Copyrights

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/...owl/?iid=HP_LN

That's about as sad as Two and a Half Men. No, let me correct myself: that is even sadder than TaaHM.


But sadness is probably a keyword in how Samsung does business.

[JAT]

Originally Posted by Rogifan

And since that's all we have the media takes these guesses as basically fact.

Most of the media takes any stray thought that flits through their own mind as fact.

[M-O]

Originally Posted by samcraig

It also includes the iPhone 4s which you can get for $99 and also the 4 which you can get for free.

Why do people have to rationalize/marginalize these reports as if someone is forcing you to give up your phone and/or mocking your decision to own whatever device you own.

the iPhone 4 is still $450. you can get a samsung android handset for under $100 (galaxy precedent is $80 off-contract).

cheap will always win market share.

[faizanshakyboy]

It has to be. iPhone has always been a very good phone, especially for jailbreakers like me!