Samsung Widens Gap Over Apple in Worldwide Smartphone Market

[Popeye206]

People saying, "yea but look at profit" amuse me

All that says is Apple is Selling cheap hardware and we pay to much for it. And we all know iPhones hardware always is quite "retro"

BTW. Im also one of those IDI O T S buying it

Not sure I agree... The A Series chip is typically cutting edge. The Camera tends to be one of the best out there - design tends to be cutting edge that others quickly try to copy... etc.... Plus Apple provides some of the best support and replacement policies in the industry.

Samsung makes money off of their "high-end" devices... similar margins... but loose their butts on the low cost devices. Personally, I think Apple is smart to avoid or limit their play in the low-end market... less money to be made and way too much competition.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The "low end market" argument isn't even an excuse.

The average consumer gets a two year contract, or now, a payment agreement. They don't pay full price for the device up front. Apple sells $0 devices and $100 devices with two year contracts too, just as the same prices as those low end Samsung phones.

Sure, Samsung's profits probably weren't as high, but in all, both parties have the low end and high end phones when you walk into the cell phone store.

Most of the world does not have "subsidized" phones. They must pay full price.

Samsung has Android phones that retail for around $125 dollars around the world. Are you telling me those aren't their volume sellers?

The average selling price (ASP) for Samsung smartphones was under $300 this past summer. It's probably lower now. And Android as a whole has ASPs descending towards $200.

Meanwhile... the ASP for iPhones is around $670

So yes... I'd say Samsung sells a lot of "low end" smartphones.

The point is... the majority of Samsung's 80 million smartphones last quarter were not $600 flagship Galaxy S models. If they were... we would have heard about it.

 

[Popeye206]

It is interesting to see that Samsung is pulling away from Apple in terms of volume and market shares. Just recently they reported poor earning and reshuffled their executives. Maybe their new strategy is to gain shares at a profit loss with the hopes to squeeze out competitors and then jack prices. It is a proven technique, but one that requires you to have semi-monopoly or be perceived as the top in the industry. I don't see either of these for Samsung so would think this is a risky gamble. In the mean time, Apple continues to own all the profits in the industry. Strange world...

Apple is not Samsungs problem... Huawei and Xaiomi are. It's a race to the bottom on the Android side of the house.

 

[Keebler]

1. You care - you posted a reply. Do you care when Apple sells more or has more profits?
2. Horrible analogy - You can get an iPhone at WalMart. Enough said. The iPhone isn't any more "premium"
3. This analysis has nothing to do with profits and everything to do with marketshare/shipped/sold.

But nice strawman rant!

lol

I shouldn't have said ' who cares ' - more like 'what does it matter'

It's a great analogy. I never said where you can buy vehicles, but yes, there is a premium attached it to it via the price. Whether or not you want to pay that premium is up to you.

Regarding 3., that is my point - marketshare/shipped/sold doesn't matter. It's a BS article is my point. # of sold doesn't matter to shareholders.

 

[paul4339]

Perhaps I missed it, but no commenters appear to be pointing out the glaring error in the article, based on the table shown...

meaning that the gap between Samsung and Apple is actually shrinking on a ...

IMO a better title would be something like:

Samsung Leads Q4 Smartphone Sales, Worldwide Gap Narrows

.

 

[MH01]

Breaking: Honda sold more cars than BMW. News at 11!

That would be Hyundai sold more cars than ford

Can't work out why everyone compares Apple products to German car manufactures .... The Germans now producing thier premium cars in China ?

Have some pride in the American car industry

In other news... Ford sells more cars than Rolls Royce.

No iPhone ever produced will rival a rolls Royce product , even if Tim himself hand builds it .... Let alone slapped together in China.

 

[H2SO4]

my partner and everyone in his company were given samsung phones that they have to use. one one uses them, they instead use forwarding apps on their phones so the company thinks they are using them. plus they only went with samsung to spy on their every move.

Yeah right. Not a very large company with anything approaching a savvy IT dept.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Apple is doomed.
C'mon Timmy, you can do better.
Knew removing headphone jack would cause problems.
Bye bye Apple stock.
Apple needs to break off its partnership with Samsung.
Steve Jobs wouldn't have allowed this.
Jony is obsessed with thinness instead of bigger battery.
Beats are crappy headphones.
OLED is better than LCD.
OLED has burn-in problems.
iPhone 5s was the best design.
Antenna bands are ugly.
1GB of ram isn't enough.
16GB base model is stupid.
5400 RPM spinning drive is stupid.
T-Mobile is disrupting the industry.

Have I forgotten anything?

Yes, the atrocious protruding camera lens "flaw" of the 6S Plus.
It wobbles the mind!

 

[mantan]

Grunt - Apple good, Samsung bad - grunt

You guys are so frickin predictable....

 

[Shlooky]

Do you have any source to back that up?

Lots of reports, Google search is your best friend.

 

[69Mustang]

I'm confused. How can anyone who does basic math think that Samsung's lead is "Widening"? 2014: Samsung-317.2 million units sold, minus Apple's 192.7 = Samsung sold 124.5 million more units than Apple. 2015: Samsung-319.7 million units sold, minus Apple's 231.5 = Samsung sold 88.2 million more units than Apple. 124.5 down to 88.2 and the headline says Samsung is pulling away?!?!?

Tehe. I've learned the hard way snark is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. The widening is in reference to quarterly YOY market share. Q4 '14 Apple had a mshare of 19.6%; tied with Samsung. Q4 '15 Apple's mshare declined to 18.5% while Samsung's mshare increased to 20.1%. Basic math Hint: The increase in Huawei's mshare has more affect on Apple's mshare than Samsung's.

Take solice in the fact these are just some statistics. Stat's can say whatever we want them to say. Almost whatever. Apparently these stats can't say "profit" like some of our more rabid members seem to need them to say.

 

[dark_knight177]

Maybe its just because its a college campus, but 80% people I know who are buying samsung phones are doing so just because its "cool" to not have an iPhone. I've had some literally tell me "iPhones are common, you know?" Or "everyone has iPhones, I want something different". One woman constantly goes around saying "Galaxy S6 is better" but always upgrades to latest iPhone. It's gotten so bad that another woman put a profile picture of herself on Facebook holding a Samsung S6 in front of an Apple Store with the caption "I dare you to FaceTime me". It's getting ridiculous now.

Kind of sad really that people are basing their purchase on looking hipster and cool rather than their preference.

I have seen this trend in my area too. Most people are buying S6 because iPhones are way too common. Yes it's about being different, that's how Apple gained their loyal customers too, remember "Think Different" campaign?

In fact when I see an iPhone user, I imagine someone who is older and not teach savy, like a grandma or a teenager. Or some poor guy who drives a beat up Toyota Corolla and owns a pink iPhone 6S. I associate galaxy S6 with a guy in a suite that screams "style" and "sophistication"

 

[Orlandoech]

Apple is doomed.
C'mon Timmy, you can do better.
Knew removing headphone jack would cause problems.
Bye bye Apple stock.
Apple needs to break off its partnership with Samsung.
Steve Jobs wouldn't have allowed this.
Jony is obsessed with thinness instead of bigger battery.
Beats are crappy headphones.
OLED is better than LCD.
OLED has burn-in problems.
iPhone 5s was the best design.
Antenna bands are ugly.
1GB of ram isn't enough.
16GB base model is stupid.
5400 RPM spinning drive is stupid.
T-Mobile is disrupting the industry.

Have I forgotten anything?

Yes, yes you have. Samesung copies Apple, how could this be?

 

[Stella]

If you view shipping out a ton of unsold, often cheap/free, phones as "success".

Sigh - this line aways come up.. but is baseless.

If Samsung phones weren't selling, retailers wouldn't stock them. It costs money to store / keep on shelves.

 

[v0lume4]

iPhone users leaving for this reason is kind of like the weakest antelope getting eaten at the end of the pack...evolution's way of shaking out those who can't adapt.

So it has nothing to do with the consumer choosing the phone that suits their lifestyle best, right?

 

[Michael Scrip]

Irrelevant comparison because Ford and Rolls Royce don't sell at the same price and at the same target market.

Apple and Samsung are after the same customers.

Not exactly.

Samsung sells smartphones from $100 to $1000... with an ASP somewhere between $200 and $300

But Apple only sells phones from $500 to $1000... with an ASP around $670

They both might have some crossover at the high-end... but Apple sells zero phones at the low-end.

On the other hand... Samsung sells a ton of units at the low-end.

So no... they're not going after the "same" customers.

 

[rdlink]

Apple is doomed.
C'mon Timmy, you can do better.
Knew removing headphone jack would cause problems.
Bye bye Apple stock.
Apple needs to break off its partnership with Samsung.
Steve Jobs wouldn't have allowed this.
Jony is obsessed with thinness instead of bigger battery.
Beats are crappy headphones.
OLED is better than LCD.
OLED has burn-in problems.
iPhone 5s was the best design.
Antenna bands are ugly.
1GB of ram isn't enough.
16GB base model is stupid.
5400 RPM spinning drive is stupid.
T-Mobile is disrupting the industry.

Have I forgotten anything?

Yes.

iPhone 4s was best design
Eddy Cue is slimy
Mac Mini fail
iMac fail
iPad Pro fail
Apple Watch fail
Apple TV fail
Soldered RAM is product of Satan

 

[Keebler]

Why are you happy that Apple makes the most profit in the industry? Do you enjoy being ripped off ? So that Apple can post 41% gross operating margin. This margin is actually 60% on iPhones if you subtract Macs and etc.

How is this a good thing for us consumers that you are being ripped in the arse by paying 60% in profits for each iPhone you buy?

Ridiculous! Who cares if I'm happy or not. If I was a shareholder, I'd be happy about the results over the last few years, that's for sure.

Whether or not someone is ripped through the arse is their opinion.

I like the products - they work so I'm ok with paying.

If you don't like it, don't buy it.

 

[Hastings101]

I thought MR banned car analogies because we have proven we don't know how to do them correctly. Apple sells commodity product just like Ford. Rolls Royce sells boutique, limited quantity product more akin to Vertu.

Please no more car analogies. For the love of Jeebus, stop.

You trying to stop car analogies is like a BMW X17a trying to outrun a Ford Pentagon

 

[LovingTeddy]

I am amazed by how many people think Samsung can just keep shipping their phones to retail and not sold at all. It is like retail love Samsung shipping their "garbage" phones and store them for Samsung. Clearly that not the case.

And seriously, iPhone isn't premiums phone. It is just overpriced and pretended to be premium phone.

 

[Stella]

Not sure why people are getting so upset about the fact that Samsung are outselling Apple. So what?

Apple is still a major player... and will continue to do so.

Enjoy the phone of your choice.

 

[AppleMark]

I am a happy iPhone 6S Plus owner--along with an ATV, several mac minis, iPad, and a macbook air.

But the way some of you dismiss this news reminds me of the band continuing to play on the Titanic, as if nothing was wrong.

Here is the deal. Samsung has always been about taking on a technology, questionably at first, and then mastering it. Ask Sony, the former premier king of TVs, about that. And then refrigerators. And Microwaves. And, and ,and....

Apple needs to up their game. As much as I love my 6S Plus I know Apple could have done better. And they need to do better. Unfortunately--IN MY OPINION--Tim Cook puts profits above all else so with him in charge I don't see it happening. So keep riding that gravy train, Tim. I only hope you don't turn down a dead-end.



Mike

Apple do not want to up their game in the way you, or I would expect them to be able to with all the resources at their disposal. It is now all about incremental updates allowing further updates to qualify further sales.

Basically, doing just enough to stay ahead of the tech game [or, not...] whilst maximising revenue. You just need to look at the latest reports to see it for what it is.

 

[Winni]

Since most of Samsung's sales are cheap low-end models, I don't think Apple is too threatened.

And are there some actual numbers available to backup that idea or is this just wishful thinking? The last time I looked, Samsung's flagship models sold really, really well all around the globe, while Apple mostly sells in the US and is beaten to pulp by the Android competition in ALL other countries.

My current phone is a Note 4. Like every gadget on the market does it have its own bag of little issues and annoyances, but nobody could ever sell me a restricted/crippled iOS gadget anymore. I can live with OS X and all its shortcomings and problems, but for me, iOS is an unbearable world of pain. Too bad that the actually very nice Apple phone/tablet hardware is so crippled by the software.

 

[Sevanw]

Gotta love all the people talking about profit, and how happy they are to report Apple's AMAZING profit margins. In other words, they are saying, "Hey everyone, look at me, I love paying Apple more money for cheaper inferior hardware. And I'll even brag about it for Apple."
Truly sad indeed. Saddest part is that blind loyal customers like this, do the most damage to advancing consumer products. Just no need for the manufacturer to innovate product after product because you're so willing to grab your ankles.

 

[rdlink]

This kind of post is = or even more annoying than the one that it is supposed to "stop / represent"......

Not always. Sometimes they're funny.