Despite the fact that Samsung surpassed Apple in terms of global smartphone market share, Apple’s iPhone generates more revenue than Samsung’s entire mobile division, according to data from Juniper Research. “Apple’s revenues from its ‘mobile division’ continues to remain significantly higher than Samsung’s, even when you take into account the latter’s feature phones,” Juniper research analyst Daniel Ashdown said. Apple’s iPhone revenue was $22.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012, $29.3 billion if you were to include the iPad, compared with Samsung’s $17 billion from its entire mobile division. Juniper forecasts that smartphone shipments will nearly double over the next five years from just under 600 million units in 2012 to 1.1 billion by 2017. Despite the current state of the market, however, the firm states there is still plenty of opportunities for other players to make strong gains, whether it be Nokia, Research in Motion, HTC or smaller vendors such as Huawei and ZTE. Juniper Research’s press release follows below.
Samsung No.1 Smartphone Brand Again in Q1, But Apple Still Making More Money
· Samsung defies logic with post-holiday q-o-q growth
· Apple’s shipments fall only marginally due to iPhone mix
· iPhone revenues continue to top the chartsHAMPSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM – 1st May 2012: Data from leading mobile analyst firm Juniper Research shows Samsung and Apple trading places once again in the smartphone market, in what is increasingly becoming a two-horse race. In the first quarter of 2012, the company estimates that nearly 60% of the 139 million smartphones shipped worldwide carried either the Apple (35.1 million) or Samsung (46.9 million) brand – up from 46% in the last three months of 2011. While Apple and Samsung have taken it in turns to lead the smartphone market over the last four quarters, it seems as if Samsung may now have established a firm lead in this space – shipping 11.8 million more units that the Cupertino, California company in Q1.
Samsung Tops Sales, But Apple leads in Revenue
With the iPhone launch craze now past, the analyst firm believes Samsung may hold onto its lead next quarter, but as Daniel Ashdown, Research Analyst with Juniper Research notes: “Apple’s revenues from its ‘mobile division’ continues to remain significantly higher than Samsung’s, even when you take into account the latter’s featurephones”. Apple’s iPhone revenue was $22.7 billion in Q1 ($29.3 billion including the iPad), compared with Samsung’s KRW18.9 trillion (~$17.0 billion) from its entire mobile division. While flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy SII and Galaxy Note contribute substantial unit volumes, the company’s rise to top spot is evidence of the smartphone’s entry into mass market price points with products like the Galaxy Y.
Rich-Pickings Still to be had for HTC, Nokia and RIM
HTC – who have not released shipment volumes for the last two quarters – appears to be following Nokia and RIM in taking-stock of where it’s best strategy lies. Nokia’s Lumia launches do not appear to have kick-started a rival yet, with the Finnish company shipping just 11.9 million smart devices in the first quarter – less than half the number it shipped in the same period a year previous. RIM’s recent results – which run to a different financial schedule – nevertheless hint at continuing problems for the Canadian firm. However, with Juniper forecasting that smartphone shipments will nearly double over the next five years – from nearly 600 million in 2012 to 1.1 billion by 2017 – there are still plenty of opportunities for other players to make gains in this market.
