In the last 10 days, a couple of releases have indeed shaken the global Smartphones’ market. First, the quarterly official release by Apple made the news and then Samsung created another twist. The phenomenal increase the sales of their Smartphone devices and record breaking profits have started new debates globally.
Apple’s performance indeed stunned many analysts who were predicting failure of iPhone4, especially after the demise of Steve Jobs. The company sold over 37 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2011, whereas its net profit rose to $13 billion, which is more 120% more than the actual projection of $6 billion. The quarterly revenue stood at $46.33 billion, which itself is a record. As per the detailed report, the company’s revenue jumped more than 73% and its annual sales of iPhone rose to over 90 million devices.
On the other side, one of the leading rivals to iPhone; Samsung, released its quarterly results just couple of days back, which (some analysts say) outshined Apple’s performance. On Friday, January 27, 2012, Samsung announced its official data for the last quarter of 2011. As per the release, the South Korean company earned over $2.5 billion net profit which is 75% more than previous year.
Although there was no official figure for the volume of smartphones sold, but as per industry analysts, the company shipped over 36.5 million galaxy tablets in the quarter, ending December 31. The media release also hinted at company’s intention to invest 9% additional capital in the New Year. The details are coming and so is the case of analysis and reports.
If you compare the performance of both; iPhone and Galaxy, you can see that Apple leads the race in terms of revenue and quarterly sales. However, Samsung’ stunned many with the reports of selling more than Apple. Apple sold over 90 million smartphones, while Samsung stood at 97.4 million. The stunning performance by the two companies is changing the dynamics of Smartphone’s market.
Some years back, it was RIM, Nokia and Apple fighting for market leadership but now, it’s only Apple and Samsung. Nokia, once the global leader, is lagging far behind the leaders, while RIM’s BlackBerry also remains shaky owing to controversies and some PR crisis in 2011. Although there are hopes that with the change in its leadership the company will bounce back, but still it’s a projection, which can be wrong.
What I see in the future is a battle between Google and Apple because one of the major factors behind the success of Samsung is Android. Remember, Google released ‘Ice-cream Sandwich’ in latest Galaxy models. To me, the future competition will not remain restricted to just operating system; instead, cost and other specifications will also matter. Right now, Samsung has price and Android advantage for future and Apple has been competitive because of its innovation and design.
In short, the release also predicts shaking brand loyalties as well, because remember, we are living in a recessionary times. Customers want more for less, so the providers, offering high quality devices in a cost effective manner will win the race.
Author Bio:
Tahir Akbar is a technology & business writer and a young entrepreneur. He writes a blog; ‘Diary of a Chief Executive on business and life management. Follow him on Twitter; http://twitter.com/MTahirAkbar.
