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Following Apple's Record Quarter Announcement, Samsung Reports Profit Drop
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Ahhhhhh ....
I'm a shareholder, yes. But even if I wasn't, Apple's record quarter would still improve my life. How?
Because I was there from the very beginning, from the family computing in the kitchen in an ad in OMNI magazine,
to walking into the Computer Lab of the University Of Miami in August 1980
and was confronted with row upon row of Apple][+es.
It's been a love affair ever since. And from the 90s to 2001 when we were getting kicked in the teeth
and were the laughing stock of the tech world, and now stand atop that self-same tech world,
that's how it improves my life: by living vicariously through Apple. By celebrating thier enormous success.
Quatsch. There's been a cure for cancer for who knows how long, now.
But because it's more profitable to treat cancer than it is to cure it, the cure will never be made public until that's changed.
And as far a building schools goes, who needs buildings to accrue data?
You are probably holding the greatest university in the history of humanity right there in your hands.
It's called a net-connected iPad.
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If there was no serious competition, Apple would just drip-feed improvements and bring new features at an even slower pace than they do right now.
The industry needs strong competition to force innovation.
Why not? Who knows what Samsung has to offer going forward, It is not beyond the realms that Apple may go down, e.g. more and more competitors in China and the US in 2015 / Initial surge of "big phone" demand subsides a little. We are likely 9 months from anything new from Apple whereas plenty of new HTC / Sony / Samsung /LG and others launching over the next months to eat into demand.
We just dont know, it all changes so dramatically. Two years ago, Samsung had stellar growth that no one could see ending, now they are dropping quickly. The thing is Samsung get 3 or 4 goes each year to try and change the trend, Apple typically gets one. Samsung has to get it right once, Apple has to get it right every single time?
Not least Blackberry!
I am not arguing that Apple don't have an impressive phone and I would certainly have a 6+ if I didn't have to carry round my company S4 [which is also fine], i.e. it is sad that folks carry more than one phone around!
Anyhow my point is that trends have a strange habit of changing dramatically, which is quite fortunate actually, since had the the growth of Elvis tributes continued to grow at the rate that it did between 1977 and 1981, by 2003 the whole world would have become Elvis tributes! [only joking]
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Not arguing that point; facts are Apple has just released a phone in the Holiday quarter / Samsung has not, so the trend at this time may not reflect the trend in say 3 months time when Samsung do their launch. Apple is doing well. What I find odd, is that When Apple was in second place, this was sensational performance, now when it is basically a tied first, Samsung are suddenly doomed? Mobile is very important to Samsung [not quite as important as they are to Apple], so this idea that they are just going to wither away is ridiculous. I suspect by Summer roles will have reversed again; that is the real point I am trying to make. They are both going to dominate the space for some considerable time.
I think Xiaomi is likely to be the only to push them. Xiaomi is becoming amazingly competitive and it looks like they're aiming for full home integration. A smart home.
I'm sure Apple is starting to feel the pressure now. Their flagship is being outdone by some other non-flagship products. More ram should have come much earlier and it still should be even more now.
It's not 100% clear... but it's a possibility.
Samsung actually dropped by about 3 million yearly units from 2013 to 2014... while Apple simultaneously went up by almost 40 million yearly units.
If that trajectory keeps up... we might see Apple overtake Samsung for the year eventually. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Not that it's a contest or anything
Samsung will undoubtedly launch new flagship phones this year... but it probably won't help their situation. I honestly don't think Samsung will get a boost from the upcoming Galaxy S6 or the Note 5.
They launched the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 in 2013... and their Holiday quarter was 86 million smartphones.
They launched the Galaxy S5 and Note 4 in 2014... but their Holiday quarter dropped to only 75 million smartphones.
So I don't see how a couple of new flagships in 2015 will reverse this downward slide.
Like I said earlier... Samsung already dropped unit sales YoY. I'm not sure how they will get those back.
Good points. But the Holiday quarter isn't that relevant for Samsung. It isn't a Holiday quarter for most of the world and most of their customers. And it isn't tied to the launch of their flagship phone the Galaxy S. What I'm curious about is the ability of the other manufacturers to continue to make high end Androids. I'm pretty sure that Samsung can still do it and put serious resources into it. Maybe HTC can on the strength of the One last year. But can the other manufacturers do it? If not, then maybe the GS6 sweeps up a larger percentage of the dwindling high end Android market.
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The battery life on Androids was terrible (and in fact continue to be terrible, in that if you tried to run one on the battery in an iPhone it would fail in half a day) so they have to contain much much larger batteries than the iPhone. To have a large battery and remain thin they had to make them wider. Add in that they could not do the tight manufacturing that Apple can do, that also lead to them being wider. Remember there was and continues to be no high end androids made in the smaller form factor. It wasn't because they all figured out something that Apple didn't or refused to see. It is because once they put in the CPU to get the performance they needed to be high end and the battery they needed to run that CPU they were left with having to have a larger form factor.
Even last year, when they tried to make phones in about the same size as the iPhone 5s they had to gimp the CPU and the screen resolution. And Android's battery usage is a lot better than it was two or three years ago.
Samsung shipped a lot of phones. Winner, winner, chicken dinner? Not. Profit is the keyword here. Something Samsung needs.
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Nope, until they have US retail operations gonna be a non-starter. I'm not buying a phone I can't replace in a half-hour.
In China, it's a different story, maybe home turf advantage, who yet knows.
But Xiaomi can only sell phones in countries that won't enforce IP rights. They cut costs by not paying for licensing and they copy all their design cues. They can't sell in bulk in the U.S. or Europe. Though it seems they will continue to eat into Samsung's position in China.
The entire thing... is a rip-off of iOS. Conveniently forgot that one, huh? Making the screen bigger is not some major innovation, it's just something users wanted. In the year it's been out, I have not seen a single S5 in the wild, and still not a single Note 4. Samsung made a big screen first. BIG DEAL. They also put in a bunch of gimmicks that have no use. Notice how Apple never copied that silly air-swipe.
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The galaxy alpha has an exynos 8 core beast soc in it and it's going from memory thinner then any phone out with a tiny battery.
No doubt. I don't expect Apple to remain on top, but the fact they've built a strong ecosystem with their app store and, to a lesser extent, their Macs, I expect them to remain strong for a long time.
and they wont eat in to Apple's China position, why? Remember Apple is now the No 1 smartphone provider in China?
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Anyone that has owned a Samsung phone could see it coming. Their product quality is horrible. This is not Android bashing, it's Samsung bashing. They have a horrible product. I would seriously consider Android again, if it were a Nexus device. There's a reason it's the highest traded in device for the iPhone.
As an American where innovation and design have a history moved offshore I'm glad an American company is producing a world-wide sensation. Mans sure Samsung is selling more smartphones than Apple, but it had a bad year. Sales units sold <> profits.
Also why do you care about US tax laws? While I'm not a fan of some of the tax laws, singling out Apple for doing what is essentially legal and does what every other corporate entity can do is misplaced. And are you aware Apple has philanthropic interests? As do other companies. That they don't gift it according to your requirements is your peeve, right?
And finally anybody can become a shareholder. As a company I like their philosophy better than others.
Seems like you'd be better off following them out the door, seeing as you take every opportunity you can to bash Apple- especially when there's good news about them.
And anyways, if you come to a website called MacRumors expecting to get unbiased "mobile news" coverage... you're barking up the wrong tree in the wrong forest.
I have a S4, quality of build is perfectly fine? Frankly, it has never been in a case and is "as new" 12 months on. I openly admit, I wouldn't choose it as my phone if it wasn't the company issue. [I would have a 6+, because I like the look] I have a Sony Z ultra which is also excellent quality, although I use it as a tablet rather than a phone. I honestly and genuinely do not believe no one else is capable of Apples quality. Virtually every vendor now has very high quality products = equal in most regards. I would argue that Apple's products whilst high quality [very high], they are often not as durable and why 99% sit in hideous cases.
Is this a backhanded way of saying "Apple is doomed"?
Apple is producing records profits and demand for the iPhone 6/6+ continues to be off the chart. Galaxy and Note, not so much. Apple took away Samdung's only strategic advantage, screen size. Samsung can win the "shipments" battle forever because it's meaningless.
As for the iPad, it's still the most desired tablet. It's more a like a desktop or laptop in that folks aren't going to replace it every 1 or 2 years.
You're really struggling hard to find a reason to pee on Apple's performance.
I can't figure out if you're trying to be funny. Please clarify.
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