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Wow. It is one thing for Apple to take all of the profits for the entire smartphone industry (they always do)...it is another thing to be in the lead with units sold as well.
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Do you even look at the numbers? Most companies in Apple's position would stop putting valuable iPhone effort into so many other great products.
Did you even read my comment? I have nothing but praises for the iPhone, it is a great product and it's great that it sells so well.

I only wish we could also get great Macs once again, and more new products like the Airpods and the Apple TV.
 
You are correct in that Apple doesn't require most resellers to pay upfront. It's like any other business transaction, customer are billed and pay accordingly. I don't think anyone is doubting the veracity of Apple's numbers. The complaint relates to the "Apple reports sold and everyone else reports shipped" myth. That myth is not true in any way shape or form. It's perpetuated because some of us misunderstand what customer primarily means from a business perspective. Best Buy, Verizon, AT&T and the like are Apple's primary customers, not us.
a customer is a customer. You give your largest customers discounts and report numbers as such.
 
I only wish we could also get great Macs once again, and more new products like the Airpods and the Apple TV.
Yeah I read it. Macs are great. Always have been. Still are.

Like I said, you're lucky Apple even still bothers to sell them, let alone come out with new models every few years. Most companies with a cash cow like iPhone would have utterly abandoned other product lines.
 
What the article doesn't make clear is that the margin between Apple and Samsung for the quarter is extremely thin, and the fact that Samsung wasn't able to sell one of their flagship phones, I'd say that Samsung actually blew Apple out of the water considering that handicap.

Had the "Note 7 fiasco" not happened, I'd guess this article would be telling a much different story.

I like this word you use, "margin", perhaps you'd like to briefly speak on the PROFIT margin of devices sold??
No? I thought not.
If company A says "we're selling cars" & company B says "really? we're giving them away!", yet company A somehow STILL moves more, would that not be doubly impressive??
 
You are correct in that Apple doesn't require most resellers to pay upfront. It's like any other business transaction, customer are billed and pay accordingly. I don't think anyone is doubting the veracity of Apple's numbers. The complaint relates to the "Apple reports sold and everyone else reports shipped" myth. That myth is not true in any way shape or form. It's perpetuated because some of us misunderstand what customer primarily means from a business perspective. Best Buy, Verizon, AT&T and the like are Apple's primary customers, not us.

I was aware of the misinformation that the other poster was trying to correct. I was affirming that aspect of their post (i.e correcting that same misinformation) while at the same time correcting some misinformation that they had posted.
 
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Apple overtook Samsung to become the world's largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2016 as shipments reached 439 million units.

According to independent research firm Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 3 percent annually to hit a record 1.5 billion units in 2016. Apple shipped 78.3 million handsets in the fourth quarter of the year - around 800,000 more units than Samsung - allowing it to recapture its number one position with 18 percent global smartphone market share.

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Bolstered by the popularity of the iPhone 7 and particularly the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple's 5 percent increase in shipments year-over-year helped it secure a 17.8 percent share of the global smartphone market, narrowly beating Samsung's share of 17.7 percent, which was negatively impacted by the company's Note7 battery fiasco. Samsung captured 21 percent share for the full year, marking its lowest level since 2011.

Despite the Q4 results, Samsung maintained first position in annualized figures, with 309 million units shipped worldwide in 2016, compared to Apple's 215 million units. Despite struggling in China against rivals like OPPO, Huawei's impressive overseas performance helped it maintain third position, with a record 10 percent global smartphone market share in Q4 2016 - the first time the company has reached double figures - while OPPO held on to fourth position and grew 99 percent annually to capture a record 7 percent global smartphone market share.

The research comes one day after Apple released its Q1 2017 financial results, in which it reported record results over what corresponds to the fourth calendar quarter of 2016. Cook was bullish on the iPhone's future, and talked up the smartphone's importance across a range of segments, including home automation, health, CarPlay, and enterprise. "I think the smartphone is still in the early innings of the game," Cook said during the earnings call. "App developers are still inventing and there are some exciting things in the pipeline that I feel really good about."

Article Link: Apple Overtakes Samsung As World's Top Smartphone Vendor in Q4 2016
 
I like this word you use, "margin", perhaps you'd like to briefly speak on the PROFIT margin of devices sold??
No? I thought not.
If company A says "we're selling cars" & company B says "really? we're giving them away!", yet company A somehow STILL moves more, would that not be doubly impressive??

That would be impressive, except for the fact that in this case, Company A(pple)'s products WERE given away for free through all the major carriers during the launch of the iPhone 7 and are STILL being given away for free by many.

Whether or not Apple is taking any of that loss off the shoulders of the carriers I can't say. But, I bet a free iPhone helps consumers decide whether to pay for a Samung or get an iPhone for free. "Free" speaks volumes.
 
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That would be impressive, except for the fact that in this case, Company A(pple)'s products WERE given away for free through all the major carriers during the launch of the iPhone 7 and are STILL being given away for free by many.

Whether or not Apple is taking any of that loss off the shoulders of the carriers I can't say. But, I bet a free iPhone helps consumers decide whether to pay for a Samung or get an iPhone for free. "Free" speaks volumes.

Free Androids are always available ranging from low to high end.
 
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Must be a Fanboy who created this article. Always touting why Apple is so great. Apple has a nice product, Samsung has a nice product. Leave it at that. Here are the facts, another larger study showed Apple at just shy of 12% market share in the phone industry. This includes all versions of the phone not just the latest. That means the iPhone7 is a success but look at the big picture. 88% of the industry is Android. I think Apple has a place and should continue to create great phones. Fanboys, buy their product. It is a great product. Realise you don't have access to the same apps as 88% of the world. Apple does have great apps themselves no doubt. Don't understand why people like this attack 1 company (besides the fact that Samsung is the largest). Samsung had no phone introduced in last half of year. In fact they had a large amount of egg on their face from external battery suppliers that produced faulty batteries.

Samsung created a holistic battery testing facility and will test all manufacturers batteries even Apple to ensure that batteries are no longer the issue. Not sure Apple would take same initiative to help even competitors produce safer phones. Again, I am not promoting Samsung or Apple. Just make sure the articles are objective in nature not "Apple is stronger and not going to dir in the phone market". No one really cares if any manufacturer fails as long as there are alternatives. I think there is more freedom for developers and users in the android market. But Apple has a good fan base and good hardware as well. I am not trying to take one company down over another. Consumers want choices. Make your articles more factual in nature. That is the point of my rant, thanks for listening. Wish we could get rid of the terms "fanboy" and "hater" when it comes to phones. Seriously. Enjoy your phone. Make a choice and you will head towards whatever phone offers the most of what you want in a phone. Apple was always on leading edge, but are now in the keep up / catch up phase. Most likely because of the timing for phone releases. I have stated in the past they need to move up their release schedule at least to mid year.

They have had many opportunities to make mid-year their schedule with phones that did not innovate. Use that time to make the mid year schedule. In the long run will help your company and get more press for being earlier to market. Apple, your 2016 device is (in a consumer's mind as 1 year old even though it is only 1-2 months old) as of February. Think about that persception.
 
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Whaaaaat?! The boring iPhone is outselling other vendors?? How can this be?

Even more funny when you consider the fact that Apple usually sells only 4 or 5 different iPhones at the same time (mostly favoring the newest one or the second newest) while Samsung makes up a LOT of different phones (Note 5-7, Galaxy S5-7, Galaxy S6 Edge in two sizes, Galaxy S7 in two sizes, etc. Not to mention BASE price for a new iPhone 7 is around $650 before taxes, so Apple is selling expensive phones, and MORE of them.
 
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It's more like Samsung's failure than Apple's own victory.

Exactly. Don't release the party balloons yet. They only edged out Samsung by 1% in Q4. Samsung still sold almost 50% more phones in 2016. The real story will be when the 8 comes out.
 
Actually, this article is what you call "Statistical Bias" :) So Apple sold 1.2 million more phones in Q4, but Samsung sold 94 million more phones in all of 2016. Yup! Apple is destroying Samsung! Rah! Rah! Rah!!1!

Every single corporation does this. Apple/Samsung/Microsoft, they all do it. They need to show some kind of positive out come for their financials. And as most humans, we are quick to read and judge and be bias loyal to this type of circle jerk.

But hey, as long as every side feels happy about themselves, who cares ;)


You can't have "statistical bias" without any actual statistics. Try again. The numbers were reported accurately, and summarized accurately. The article did not forecast or extrapolate; it just reported that Apple did have a "lead" in Q4. Now, it's fair to doubt they can sustain that lead; but the lead was there for one quarter.
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Did this research firm just lift Apple's iPhone unit numbers from yesterday's earning release and not adjust them to account for the six days in September which Apple's own numbers include? That's surely what it looks like, but maybe that's not what they did?


Apple did report, in writing, 78,290 units shipped in Q4. Where did you get that Q4 includes six days in September?
 
You can't have "statistical bias" without any actual statistics. Try again. The numbers were reported accurately, and summarized accurately. The article did not forecast or extrapolate; it just reported that Apple did have a "lead" in Q4. Now, it's fair to doubt they can sustain that lead; but the lead was there for one quarter.
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Apple did report, in writing, 78,290 units shipped in Q4. Where did you get that Q4 includes six days in September?

Yes, Apple reported 78.29 million iPhone units for the 1st quarter of its 2017 fiscal year which is roughly equivalent to the fourth quarter of the 2016 calendar year. However, Apple's 2017 Q1 began on September 25th, not on October 1st.

Apple's quarters typically don't begin or end with the first day or last day of a month. They are 13 weeks long, not 3 months long. So more often than not they begin, e.g., toward the end of September rather than at the beginning of October. Most of the time that doesn't affect the length of Apple's quarters. This time it did, the 1st quarter for Apple was 14 weeks long as it ran until the last day of December.
 
Not really. They most likely would have sold more than Apple but it wouldn't have been a blown out of the water scenario. The Note had a great reputation and a dedicated following. It didn't have spectacular sales on the level of Sammy's S series. Regardless of what Samsung did or didn't do, it's pretty hard to discount what Apple did in the 4th quarter. 78 million is 78 million no matter how you slice it.
The data shows that most Note owners just bought another Android phone.
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Yes, Apple reported 78.29 million iPhone units for the 1st quarter of its 2017 fiscal year which is roughly equivalent to the fourth quarter of the 2016 calendar year. However, Apple's 2017 Q1 began on September 25th, not on October 1st.

Apple's quarters typically don't begin or end with the first day or last day of a month. They are 13 weeks long, not 3 months long. So more often than not they begin, e.g., toward the end of September rather than at the beginning of October. Most of the time that doesn't affect the length of their quarters though. This time it did, the 1st quarter for Apple was 14 weeks long as it ran until the last day of December.
Everyone was working under the same constraints.
 
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That would be impressive, except for the fact that in this case, Company A(pple)'s products WERE given away for free through all the major carriers during the launch of the iPhone 7 and are STILL being given away for free by many.

Whether or not Apple is taking any of that loss off the shoulders of the carriers I can't say. But, I bet a free iPhone helps consumers decide whether to pay for a Samung or get an iPhone for free. "Free" speaks volumes.

Lol, I thought by now everybody knew what "free" phone really means, when a carrier offers that.
I guess there's always someone late to the party.
I'm not going to explain it. Use Google.

At any rate... this is (purposefully?) WAY off the point.
We both know that Samsung accepts razor slim margins to achieve their sales, whereas Apple has high margins & literally makes 90-100% of all the handset profit.
THAT is the point.
You can snarkily dismiss the incredibly impressive feat of catching up with the sales market leader all you want.
No matter what the circumstances; it's mind boggling.
They have distinctly different strategies.
One of them should (and had, up to now...) yield FAR more sales.
 
I just boggles my mind that iPhone 7, basically iPhone 6 v3, is so popular. No wonder Apple keeps releasing the same phones if people keep buying them.
What else is the option? If you are vested into android ecosystem , you can switch vendors to get varieties of phones. If you are vested in Apple ecosystem then you only have one phone to stay with. Plus if you are on annual upgrade cycle, you are forced to buy iPhone. This should also serve as a reminder that the more you get deep into Apple ecosystem, Apple controls you more.
 
The data shows that most Note owners just bought another Android phone.
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Everyone was working under the same constraints.

Do you think that this research firm was using a fourth quarter measurement from September 25th through December 31st, rather than from October 1st through December 31st?

I acknowledged that that was possible in my original post, but it would be quite irregular. When people refer to calendar quarters, they typically mean 3-month periods of time. And if this research firm adapted its own quarter (for research purposes) timing to Apple's fiscal quarter (for reporting) timing, does it do that every quarter? Because most of the others that they are presenting research on don't report with the same quarterly timing that Apple does - especially not for this past quarter.

As I said, it would be quite irregular if what they meant by the fourth quarter was September 25th through December 31st. If they did, then fair enough. That should be made clear in their reporting of their findings.
 
What is missed in this endless discourse ("race to become, temporarily, the quarterly sales leader") is the impressive year-over-year growth in shipments by two leading Chinese makers:

Year-over-Year Shipments (2016/2015%):
  1. Huawei: 129.6%
  2. OPPO: 213%
Whereas Samsung and Apple reported negative annual growth (2016/2015%):
  1. Samsung: 96.79%
  2. Apple: 93%
That Chinese-makers' geometric growth excludes the US cellular providers. But when, and not if, they become mainstream, watch out for the two leaders to take a beating within US shores. (Their hardware is competitive and their software is derived off Android, so it leverages for free Google's open source "kindness".)

That is what impressed off this report.


The linchpin to Apple is that it does not rely on merchant silicon, but designs its own custom silicon. Allowing for lower cost, greater reliability and performance, lower power and physical footprint, and customized functionalities that may be unattainable to the other makers. (May be a temporary advantage, though.)

Disclaimer: I have relied for these computations on the reported numbers off the MR table above. The assumption is that these are auditable numbers, and correct for the four makers.
 
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