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Apple and Samsung Tied as World's Largest Smartphone Makers in Q4 2014 [Updated]

spectrumfox said:
317.2 versus 192.7 for 2014.

Yeah, looks like Samsung is really on their way out to me...

Let's start the doom and gloom. :cool:
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it does look like when you look at the quarterly results. Samsung is declining and Apple is rising to the point where they actually tied in the 4th quarter. Based on the trend, Apple should overtake Samsung in 2015.
 
My Android-using friends had been talking about how Samsung had lost the plot and other makers were circling.
Apparently it's true. Even though I didn't - and still don't - care.
 
Shipped vs Sold

Richardgm said:
When it comes to smartphone sales take anything that mentions Samsung with a grain of salt.

Samsung doesn't report sales numbers, therefore everyone is guessing.
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Unfortunately, Samsung ships many phones that sit in warehouses and on retailer's shelves. Apple can't keep iPhones in the stores and sells every single iPhone instantly.
 
A source tells me there are internal memos circulating Samsung HQ about the need to emulate Xaiomi. Major crisis mode going on over there.
 
Richardgm said:
When it comes to smartphone sales take anything that mentions Samsung with a grain of salt.

Samsung doesn't report sales numbers, therefore everyone is guessing.
Click to expand...
The recent conference call for Samsung's earnings report had a mention that it shipped 95 million phones total last quarter, and that smartphones accounted for "percentage in the high seventies". If we put 79% for 95 million, that gives 75.05 million, which is close to SA's figure of 74.5 million.

But because Apple's earnings report comes out earlier than Samsung's, Samsung would have already known that Apple hit 74.5 million and if its shipment numbers were any higher it would have certainly been mentioned more clearly. But since this did not happen, many are assuming that either SA was pretty close, or Samsung actually shipped less than Apple.
 
Michael Scrip said:
That's unit sales.

Now check Samsung's financials.

Samsung sold more phones in 2014 than they did in 2013. Good, right?

But their profit actually went down during that time despite the increase in sales. Oops...

Oh Samsung won't go bankrupt in my lifetime... but someone at Samsung HQ will soon be looking for a new job.
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Why? You are assuming that someone neesds to be fired cause the company made more sales though profit was down. You may want to research how profit is determined ;)

----------
reevans said:
Unfortunately, Samsung ships many phones that sit in warehouses and on retailer's shelves. Apple can't keep iPhones in the stores and sells every single iPhone instantly.
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Plenty of apple stock in this country sitting and waiting for new customers.

Once the wave of new iPhone passes, retailers have plenty of stock on hand.

Though I hope your comment was sarcasm ;)
 
reevans said:
Unfortunately, Samsung ships many phones that sit in warehouses and on retailer's shelves. Apple can't keep iPhones in the stores and sells every single iPhone instantly.
Click to expand...

Of course they do....it's magical isn't it.
 
Apple does exceptionally well, due to the fact it only has premium priced handsets.
 
iPhones will be better and better only if competition is strong at Apple's heels.
No competition, no need to significantly improve a product.
You love your iPhone, you have to hope the all other vendors are going to sell quite well.
 
osaga said:
A source tells me there are internal memos circulating Samsung HQ about the need to emulate Xaiomi. Major crisis mode going on over there.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when a major crisis hits a company , these memos are sent to everyone internally ;)
 
osaga said:
A source tells me there are internal memos circulating Samsung HQ about the need to emulate Xaiomi. Major crisis mode going on over there.
Click to expand...


Not surprising. Glad I don't have to sit in on that meeting. Funny enough if they would just stop "going after" other companies maybe they would get some where. Them going after others is EXACTLY what got them to this point to begin with. A fight with Xaiomi will not end well either.
 
sofila said:
iPhones will be better and better only if competition is strong at Apple's heels.
No competition, no need to significantly improve a product.
You love your iPhone, you have to hope the all other vendors are going to sell quite well.
Click to expand...

Exactly. People don't undertand that had it not been for top end Galaxy handsets, apple would not have been pushed to develop better iPhones. Also glad HtC came out with the M8.

Don't like it, don't but it, though the competiton results in better Apple devices .

Look at the Apple iPod range, ageing and forgotten as there is no competition in that area.

I hope the Galaxy s6 is awesome, so the next iPhone will be even better!
 
MH01 said:
Why? You are assuming that someone neesds to be fired cause the company made more sales though profit was down. You may want to research how profit is determined ;)
Click to expand...

The "getting fired" part was a joke. :)

I know how profit is determined... and Samsung made less of it this year than they did last year.

They don't give bonuses for that, do they?
 
SockRolid said:
Apple Pay and TouchID were much bigger selling points for me.
And the rounded corners. Got sick of chamfered edges.
(But the chamfering is necessary for iPad because of the new narrower bezels.)
Click to expand...

Same here, I love the new edges, and Touch ID is amazingly fast and convenient. Unbelievable how quickly it scans the fingerprint. I actually dislike the larger screen because I have to keep adjusting my grip to use it.
 
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MH01 said:
Exactly. People don't undertand that had it not been for top end Galaxy handsets, apple would not have been pushed to develop better iPhones. Also glad HtC came out with the M8.

Don't like it, don't but it, though the competiton results in better Apple devices .

Look at the Apple iPod range, ageing and forgotten as there is no competition in that area.

I hope the Galaxy s6 is awesome, so the next iPhone will be even better!
Click to expand...

Another vote to hope Samsung doesn't suffer too much. Just because I don't buy their phones any more (I had an S2 I loved until it got bricked by Kies and had to be sent away - I was one of many), innovation will stagnate if the competition isn't there.
 
Richardgm said:
When it comes to smartphone sales take anything that mentions Samsung with a grain of salt.

Samsung doesn't report sales numbers, therefore everyone is guessing.
Click to expand...

It's really irrelevant, because this only counts unit sales. All Apple phones are at the high end of the market, where Samsung had a massive drop in sales. If you count revenue, Samsung has always been behind.

MH01 said:
Exactly. People don't undertand that had it not been for top end Galaxy handsets, apple would not have been pushed to develop better iPhones.
Click to expand...

Aren't we getting our history wrong here a bit? If Apple hadn't developed the iPhone, there would be no Galaxy phones. They only started getting popular when Samsung started copying the iPhone 3GS.
 
Richardgm said:
When it comes to smartphone sales take anything that mentions Samsung with a grain of salt.

Samsung doesn't report sales numbers, therefore everyone is guessing.
Click to expand...

Of course, I mean, if you had a phone shop selling Samsung phones, and you had 100 in stock and had not sold any, then of course you would order another 100 for stock wouldn't you ?
:rolleyes:
 
nutmac said:
Well technically, they are probably not wrong. Apple probably sold every iPhones it made (at least within most margin of error). It would've been more fair to compare units sold, but companies other than Apple rarely reports such figure.
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At the end of the previous quarter they had 200,000 in stock which is much less than their target. Last year at the end of the quarter there were 1.1 million in stock.

Just saying thanks to the person mentioning Samsung profits. Their mobile division profit is down to $1.78bn. Their total company profit (fridges, vacuum cleaners, semiconductors, phones, everything) is down to $4.73 billion. The only growth is in semiconductors which is partially down to Apple. Semiconductors now makes more profit than phones.
 
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The conglomerate we know as Samsung is not going anywhere anytime soon however their phone business will need a major overhaul. They need to hit the market that Apple isn't hitting, and that is the low end market. In the high end market, it's going to be hard to beat the iPhone. However, considering the cheapest iPhone you can get on prepaid is $450, this leaves a big door open. I'm not saying Apple should sink to that level, however it's a viable option for Samsung.

Even before the big Apple v Samsung debate, I only bought Samsung RAM because it was reliable. Their appliances were good, then around 2009 they started going down hill. A friend completely updated their house with Samsung appliances in 2007. Every single one of them is going to this day without a single issue. I have a Samsung washer and dryer bought in 2011. The washer broke down twice: once the tub became unbalanced and the other the motor gave out and needed to be replaced. The dryer won't dry and someone is coming out to fix that. In the future, I'll be more likely to buy from their home-truff competitor LG.

Their TVs are still pretty good. I have a plasma one that was bought as a floor model and it's still going.

MH01 said:
Look at the Apple iPod range, ageing and forgotten as there is no competition in that area.
Click to expand...

Um, no. The iPod line is dead not because of lack of competition but because no one is buying dedicated MP3 players anymore. Why bother? Your computer, phone, or tablet will play the music for you. Hell, I'm typing this on my iPhone while listening to music. My Shuffle only gets used when I work out and my nano when I wanna listen to live radio (I hate apps like Radio.com and iHeartRadio).

I see what your getting at though. Competition is healthy. Maybe this will actaully work in favor of the consumer to give Samsung a swift kick in the a$$ and get moving.
 
Piggie said:
Of course, I mean, if you had a phone shop selling Samsung phones, and you had 100 in stock and had not sold any, then of course you would order another 100 for stock wouldn't you ?
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Do not use logic!
 
One has to wonder ...

what would have happened if Apple had released bigger screens years ago - Samsung and others would have struggled to make a mark.
 
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