RIM and Apple hold 3% of the wireless market, 35% of profits

By on Jul 20, 2009 at 3:52 PM
News July 20, 2009

Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff fed some figures to the Wall Street Journal this morning and to say they speak volumes for the effectiveness of both RIM and Apple’s strategies is a gross understatement. Two companies, 3 percent of the global cell phone market, 35 percent of the operating profits. Sheesh. It’s no mystery that both companies have hit the industry hard of late but if this statistic doesn’t speak volumes for the success both have been experiencing, we don’t know what does. While Apple’s next handset release is about a year away, the company continues to bring its iPhone 3GS to new markets where it has yet to receive anything but an enthusiastic welcome. RIM on the other hand, has several highly anticipated devices still to come this year including the Storm 2, Bold 9020 (Onyx) and the Magnum. In a nut shell, both companies are well positioned to push that number up toward the 40 percent mark and possibly beyond before the year is out.

Beyond the dynamic duo that is RIM and Apple, Nokia is the only other player represented on the chart above showing a profit share that outreaches its market share and it still owns the lion’s share of each. As we reaffirmed last week however, all is not peachy up in Finland these days. And then we find Samsung and LG, two companies that combine to make up over 30 percent of the global cell phone market but only about 20 percent of the profits. Last and unfortunately least, there’s Motorola. Ouch, Moto.

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34 Comments

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  • JL

    MS better get off their ass and get WM7 out on some decent hardware (large, high-res capacitive touch with hardware accelerated graphics etc – like Tegra based stuff) quickly or they will become a niche player in the smartphone arena (mind you, it’s Microsoft, I’m not counting them out yet..)

  • Peter

    It’s much higher where i live.. about 20 bb’s for every iphone i see…

  • http://www.townhallresearch.com David Eller

    These numbers are suspect. Is he including the service revenue captured by Apple? Is he accounting for the marketing and advertising dollars provided to RIM? Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive but what they conceal is vital…

  • zac

    I wish people weren’t so stupid, that’s the only reason the iPhone is so popular, they run ads acting like they invented “apps” or the touch screen and now…the 3GS has a camera! Like that’s something that a 600$ phone shouldn’t have had to begin with? And people are eating it up?

    I say congrats to Apple for realizing just how dumb people are, let’s out-date our own product TWICE and people will actually praise us for our inovation even though were actually behind the curve

    Genius

  • Mattie K

    Apple is behind the curve? They changed the game, and people are still struggling to catch up. How many articles claim the Pre is the first phone to truly challenge the Iphone? It took how many years for that to happen?

    I am not an Apple fan boy, but lets be realistic here. Apple is still ahead on many fronts, but they need to bring on a bigger update next year to maintain the advantage. Look at that, only 3% market share and 2nd most profit? That is impressive, and could mean a lot of dollars for R&D…

    It cracks me up to see how passionate people have become about phone brands.

  • Vincent

    3% of the market, but 35% of the profits. Sounds like something the democrats whine about. Can’t wait for Obama to reditribute that wealth.

  • Valiantineus

    I am a hardcore BB user, but I am a technology connoisseur and I would lying if I said the iPhone wasn’t a great piece of equipment. I think the main reason many people get upset over the iPhone is because of their exclusivity agreement with the Death Star. I mean, people feel a connection to their carrier (if the carrier does what they’re supposed to) and it angers them that they would have to change carriers to get such a popular phone, especially when the carrier they would have to go to has such a bad reputation. Personally, I think these “exclusivity” agreements are severely damaging to the wireless industry, especially in the U.S., and greatly undermining free trade and capitalism.

    I mean, PAYING a manufacturer NOT to sell their product to the competition? Sounds like an anti-trust law violation to me. It would be different if at&t had helped Apple develop the iPhone or something, but we all know that was not the case here.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Drummer85 NDAMUKONG SUH

    @Valiantineus wHOA!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Drummer85 NDAMUKONG SUH

    wHO!!!

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