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Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

businessweek.com

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Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#71

Post by barumrho »

brudgers wrote: post #50
tjogin wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure they have, and as long as we count parts and phones, rather than revenues, or better yet, profits, they will always be "bigger" than Apple, in that sense. I have a feeling they'd rather be more profitable though.

Comparing "Samsung profits" to Apple's profits is meaningless - Samsung is not a single entity but a group of 83 interlocked companies (chaebol) which is largely controlled by the founder's decedents. As a matter of scale and impact, Samsung accounts for 13% of South Korea's GDP.

But, Apple's net income is greater than Samsung's according to Wikipedia.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#73

Post by sharmajai »

sharmajai wrote: post #36
rimantas wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What other stats make sense to the company? It is called "business" for a reason.

Ya business as USUAL is what apple is known for. Ya right.

If all the 'Think Different' ads, the product differentiation by Apple, and the Jony Ive's memorial speech about caring about months for things that the user will never see, with no regards to its contribution to profit, cannot convince the downvoters that Apple is not like all other run the mill companies, then I don't know what will.

Regardless I hate it when people act and support the cynicism that all companies are the same, they all work for profit, there can never be a do no evil company. May all such thinkers stick to their dogma lifelong and suffer from it.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#74

Post by prodigal_erik »

Mordor wrote: post #12

... and so the pressure builds on Apple to diversify, which is what killed it last time. Really Apple needs to invent and come up with something special, but as SJ would tell you - which idea do you pick?

What nearly killed Apple last time was a bad supply chain that resulted in ridiculously expensive desktops full of non-commodity parts. This time they're actually equipped to compete with efficient manufacturers, which is why their dystopian policies worry me now.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#75

Post by wmf »

diminish wrote: post #45

Single device strategy vs Devices with multiple sizes, keyboards etc.The first strategy makes good profit and the second strategy makes more revenuue. but long term, always the market share rules strategically..

It's clear that very small market share is not sustainable, but the market is so large that I think iOS will be fine even if it levels off at ~30% share.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#76

Post by kenjackson »

hugh3 wrote: post #72

I'm really confused as to why some people seem to have strong feelings about this.

I agree. It's interesting info to know, but not something to get worked up about. MG Siegler seems to take pride in Apple making a lot of money, for example. I'm really unclear why I should get excited if Apple make $30B this year or $25B unless I'm a shareholder.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#77

Post by hugh3 »

kenjackson wrote: post #76
hugh3 wrote: post #72

I'm really confused as to why some people seem to have strong feelings about this.

I agree. It's interesting info to know, but not something to get worked up about. MG Siegler seems to take pride in Apple making a lot of money, for example. I'm really unclear why I should get excited if Apple make $30B this year or $25B unless I'm a shareholder.

Well heck, I am an Apple shareholder, but still don't particularly care whether Apple happens to sell more phones than any other individual company, as long as they're still selling plenty of phones and making plenty of money.

I mean, I'd prefer 'em to be making more money rather than less money, but it's not a great idea to get too emotionally invested in every piece of news about every company you happen to have some money in.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#78

Post by jnfr »

My problem is that all of these articles are missing a key piece of information: the number of devices each manufacturer has out on the market. Jumping over to Samsung's website, I count 14 Galaxy Smartphone devices currently on sale. What about Apple? They have on sale the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. How about instead of comparing absolute values of shipments, we talk about number of shipments per device?

But is it really a numbers game? Is it quantity over quality? It's no secret that Apple has one of the most loyal fanbases out of any other tech company. Who is clamoring over wanting every new Galaxy smartphone? Who's lining up every time they release a new product?

For those who want to play the numbers game, make sure to play it properly. The iPhone 4s sold 4M shipments during its first weekend. Meanwhile, it took Samsung 55 days to sell 3 million Galaxy S IIs, arguably, their most successful Smartphone yet. Now if Samsung continuously releases new versions of these Galaxy smartphones, which they are, then obviously they will be shipping more.

Re: Samsung Overtakes Apple as World’s Biggest Smartphone Seller

#80

Post by wanorris »

moomin wrote: post #66
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They set out to make the most money." It really worries me that there's a new breed of Apple fan that actually believes this. In reality they set out to build the best device (for affluent, white, middle-aged, American males with a taste for minimalism) and semi-accidentally became fashionable status symbols. The crowing about making the most money was just fanboy bragging because every other stat they bragged about…

To be honest, I'm not an Apple fan. I'm a fan of the iPhone; I think it's a superb bit of kit. But I waited 4 years to upgrade my last one, so I'm probably not exactly their best customer. I don't really see the problem with claiming a company sets out to make money. But Apple's achievement in this area is nothing short of phenomenal. They've driven component costs down to the point that there's _hundreds_ of dollars…

From the standpoint of operations and supply chain, Apple's work is absolute genius. People who keep up with successful businesses and study business strategies should marvel at this. HN is full of people who care about the running of business, so this is a natural topic.

But the drift amongst consumers in general from discussing things like "Apple makes great phones!" and "Android phones really empower me to do things I find useful!" to arguing your phone is superior to someone else's because of the supply chain management involved or the profit margin is utterly baffling. These things have no bearing on the consumer experience.

Even the sales stats are ultimately a pretty silly thing to argue about. If you have a device with the limited ecosystem of a WebOS phone, then market share matters, because at that level, not many people will write apps for your phone. But both iOS and Android phones are tremendously successful, and both have pretty much all the third party apps anyone needs (plus or minus something new enough that it hasn't been ported or knocked off on the other platform).

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