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Apple & Samsung Hold 55% of the Smartphone Market, but Earn 90% of its Profits

According to some new figures by ABI Research, Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2012, but took in over 90% of the market’s profits. Looking at ve...
Apple & Samsung Hold 55% of the Smartphone Market, but Earn 90% of its Profits
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  • According to some new figures by ABI Research, Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2012, but took in over 90% of the market’s profits.

    Looking at vendor shipments for the quarter reveals some interesting figures. Apple shipped 35 million smartphones. That number was small compared to Samsung who sent out over 43 million.

    The challenge appears when you look at everyone else. Their next closes competitor, Nokia, only shipped out 11.9 million smartphones. That’s a huge discrepancy. RIM wasn’t far behind with just over 11 million, but again, these figures don’t reflect any real competition for Apple of Samsung.

    ABI Research senior analyst of devices, applications & content, Michael Morgan, comments on what Nokia would have to do to compete in the smartphone market:

    “At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments,”

    Jeff Orr, practice director for devices, applications & content, comments on opportunities in the smartphone market:

    “As Nokia’s market share in China plummets, the competition to fill this power vacuum has the potential to make or break smartphone OEMs currently struggling with profitability and differentiation,”

    You can discover more about opportunities and trends in the smartphone market by reading ABI’s Smartphone Market Data report.

    Currently, it doesn’t look like Nokia has the capacity to step up to the plate, and Research in Motion is still struggling to stay afloat as we await the release of the new BlackBerry. So I don’t think we’ll see either Apple of Samsung releasing their stranglehold on the smartphone market anytime soon.

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