Apple Continues to Take More Than Half of Mobile Phone Industry Profits

[MacRumors]

Despite a sequential drop in iPhone sales in the third calendar quarter of 2011 as customers held out for the iPhone 4S, Apple once again seized over half of the profits generated by leading mobile phone manufacturers during the quarter, according to a new research report by Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley and shared by Forbes. According to the study's estimates, Apple raked in 52% of the overall profits during the quarter, down slightly from 57% in the second calendar quarter but up from 47% in the year-ago quarter that also had the then-new iPhone 4 on the market.

In an epic reversal of fortunes, Mr. Walkley pointed out that in 2007, Nokia had 67% of operating profits while Apple had just 4%. Today, while Apple has 52% of industry profits, Nokia has been relegated its rival's former position with just 4% of operating profits.

As noted in a report from AllThingsD on the same research note, Walkley predicts that the launch of the iPhone 4S will spur even further growth for Apple, pushing the company to take over 60% of industry profits in the final calendar quarter of 2011.

Walkley is not the only observer to routinely release estimates of mobile phone manufacturer profit shares, as asymco's Horace Dediu performs a similar analysis each quarter. Dediu's numbers have typically come in 5-10 percentage points higher for Apple than Walkley's estimates have, but the trends seen by each analyst are certainly consistent: Aside from some natural ebb and flow due to iPhone release cycles, Apple is continuing to increase its dominant share of mobile phone industry profits despite shipping only a small fraction of total units.

Update: Dediu has just posted his Q3 estimates, pegging Apple at 56% of industry profits.

Article Link: Apple Continues to Take More Than Half of Mobile Phone Industry Profits

 

[C42D]

"In an epic reversal of fortunes, Mr. Walkley pointed out that in 2007, Nokia had 67% of operating profits while Apple had just 4%. Today, while Apple has 52% of industry profits, Nokia has been relegated its rival’s former position with just 4% of operating profits."

OWN3D....

 

[Skika]

Deserved!

 

[Kaibelf]

Blah blah blah but Android's better it's on more handsets blah blah blah people who call it cheap just don't understand and are sheep blah blah blah Apple's dying and will be out of business in 3 days blah blah blah we're not fragmented garbage and the next phone has a bigger screen so it'll change everything the same way the last 67 Android phones that came out this week did.....

 

[anberlinairlift]

Samsung's getting saltier and saltier by the quarter.

 

[darfel]

This is what's important, not who sold the most handsets!!!

 

[AdeFowler]

This should be marked as a point of reference every time the marketshare stats are produced.

 

[Risco]

Sales numbers are nothing unless you have good profits. While there may be more androids out there, the profit margins are minimul. If Apple can sell as many as they do, with such massive margins then hats off to them!

 

[samcraig]

Mazel Tov Apple.

As for negative comments towards other phones/OS's - leave well enough alone. You can celebrate Apple's accomplishments without dissing the competition.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Pick those pockets clean!!!!

 

[jasonxneo]

Apple has good liquidity and cash flow

 

[Kaibelf]

Mazel Tov Apple.

As for negative comments towards other phones/OS's - leave well enough alone. You can celebrate Apple's accomplishments without dissing the competition.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, and I have NO qualms about getting down in the mud and shoving Fandroids' faces in the filthy reality.

 

[Dwalls90]

Great, so stop charging so much! Cheapen those iDevices

 

[*LTD*]

Pick those pockets clean!!!!

Consumers don't seem to mind paying (or paying more) for quality or when they perceive a better value proposition. All my Apple gear over the years has been worth every single cent.

There is very little buyers' remorse among Apple customers. Which is why they can command the level of brand loyalty they do. That takes a great deal of heard work, and it must be earned. Apple has earned my business, and they continue to earn it.

 

[sazivad]

Blah blah blah but Android's better it's on more handsets blah blah blah people who call it cheap just don't understand and are sheep blah blah blah Apple's dying and will be out of business in 3 days blah blah blah we're not fragmented garbage and the next phone has a bigger screen so it'll change everything the same way the last 67 Android phones that came out this week did.....

This is pwnage.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Great, so stop charging so much! Cheapen those iDevices

I think they should raise the prices so they make even more money.

 

[samcraig]

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, and I have NO qualms about getting down in the mud and shoving Fandroids' faces in the filthy reality.

For someone who is obviously a fan of Apple - and no doubt Jobs - you certainly aren't leading by example. But if you get your jollies that way - feel free. Says more about you than anything else.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Apple has earned my business, and they continue to earn it.

Of course they do.

 

[Kaibelf]

For someone who is obviously a fan of Apple - and no doubt Jobs - you certainly aren't leading by example. But if you get your jollies that way - feel free. Says more about you than anything else.

Yes, it's completely unlike Jobs OR Apple to parade successes. Of course, it's not like they have opened every single keynote with a string of figures and showing comparisons to flailing competitors for years now.... they were always above such things..... oh wait.

 

[kjs862]

Way to go Apple!

 

[samcraig]

Yes, it's completely unlike Jobs OR Apple to parade successes. Of course, it's not like they have opened every single keynote with a string of figures and showing comparisons to flailing competitors for years now.... they were always above such things..... oh wait.

They did indeed take shots at the competition. But they were also witty and showed intelligence/clever marketing.

I'm pretty sure Steve never came out and did a happy dance while talking about Fandroids....

 

[marksman]

Apple makes more money than all the android handset makers combined on smart phones.

Microsoft makes more money off Android than Google does...


The android business plan is really working out very well.

 

[Cappy]

It's funny how Apple fanatics get excited about Apple raking in profits(ie their money).

As to how it affects the perceptions though keep in mind that from what we've been hearing Apple gets a larger percentage from the carriers than other mobile phone manufacturers. Kudos to them for being able to do this but it would be interesting to see that if Apple only received the same profits as their competitors where they might stand in a similar comparison.

 

[lilo777]

This is what's important, not who sold the most handsets!!!

Yes, if you are talking about investors. But this forum is for consumers. For them, the fact that iPhone loses market and mind share is critical as more and more often the companies start treating Android as the most important ecosystem and iOS as a second fiddle.

 

[anberlinairlift]

It's funny how Apple fanatics get excited about Apple raking in profits(ie their money).

As to how it affects the perceptions though keep in mind that from what we've been hearing Apple gets a larger percentage from the carriers than other mobile phone manufacturers. Kudos to them for being able to do this but it would be interesting to see that if Apple only received the same profits as their competitors where they might stand in a similar comparison.

Who cares? That's not the reality, so what's the point in playing the what-if game?