Samsung smartphones outsell Apple

[HansTWN]

The latest news in this battle. http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Sam....html?x=0&.v=1

[Todd Young]

Is it a press release or news? Samsung is mentioned 15 times, Apple 5 times.

[petermillard]

...or if they do, they're not telling. Reading beyond the headlines and you get a different story - or actually, not much of a story at all (my emphasis):-

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co surpassed Apple Inc as the world's top smartphone maker with more than 40 percent shipment growth, and forecast strong sales in the fourth quarter, as it aims to consolidate its lead against rivals...

So that's shipments i.e. out of the factory into the 'channel', not sales to customers.

Shipments of [Samsung] smartphones jumped more than 40 percent from the preceding quarter and 300 percent from a year ago. The growth leapfrogs Apple, which sold fewer iPhones in the third quarter from the previous quarter. Apple's iPhone sales slid to 17.1 million units from the second quarter's 20 million units...

So Samsung are making more units and getting them out of the door; good for them. Meanwhile, Apples sold fewer units to customers in the third quarter - possibly because everyone and their brother knew that there was a new iPhone coming out in October - but despite this still sold over 17 million iPhones.

Samsung didn't provide third-quarter sales figures, but the percentage growth numbers suggested shipments may have risen to around 27 million units from second-quarter's 19 million units...

It's anybody's guess what that actually means, but hey, let's not let niggly little details like actual sales figures get in the way, right??

[covfam]

Ok not to knit-pick too much but the article doesnt point out that apple is only selling 1 iphone model (with 3 various sizes) but on the otherhand samsun currently has 130 active smartphone models and another 30feature phone models. so while samsung sold 10 million more units than apple you have to remember thats spread over roughly 170 active cellphones... imho it would have been better to see what samsung was selling of thier top smartphone say the galaxy s 2 vs the iphone.... dont get me wrong i love the galaxy phones in fact im looking to buy one tomorrow but this wasnt a phone model to phone model comparison... this was a electronic device company vs a single phone model comparison and thats not exactly fair.

[kartu]

BBC: Samsung overtakes Apple in smartphone sales



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15489523

Note that not long ago Samsung and Apple's market share was roughly the same, about 18%.

[kartu]

Originally Posted by covfam

... it would have been better to see what samsung was selling of thier top smartphone say the galaxy s 2 vs the iphone....

I don't agree on "it would have been better", but it is interesting indeed. Starting on July and up to now Samsung sold about 10 million Galaxy S II's.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394782,00.asp

I own Galaxy S I and pathetic battery life aside, it's a wonderful piece of hardware. I don't think any other phone maker has comparable screens for starters.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by covfam

Ok not to knit-pick too much but the article doesnt point out that apple is only selling 1 iphone model (with 3 various sizes) but on the otherhand samsun currently has 130 active smartphone models and another 30feature phone models. so while samsung sold 10 million more units than apple you have to remember thats spread over roughly 170 active cellphones... imho it would have been better to see what samsung was selling of thier top smartphone say the galaxy s 2 vs the iphone.... dont get me wrong i love the galaxy phones in fact im looking to buy one tomorrow but this wasnt a phone model to phone model comparison... this was a electronic device company vs a single phone model comparison and thats not exactly fair.

It is entirely fair. Samusung shouldn't be penalised because they aren't anal enough to determine that consumers deserve just one model.

[John F]

Originally Posted by covfam

Ok not to knit-pick too much but the article doesnt point out that apple is only selling 1 iphone model (with 3 various sizes) ...

I believe here in the US they sell multiple models: 4, 4s, and 3G. Is it different where you are?

[Phogg]

Samsung owns the lion's share of patents for OLED and nearly all the factories producing OLED screens.
In the vicious Apple/Samsung corporate war, Samsung locked Apple out of being able to offer super AMOLED screens early on. For some consumers, the blacker black on a Samsung screen is a factor.

[Razi]

I saw this news on BBC website and came streight here fully expecting it to be present in 'News' section. I wasn't wrong.

From my personal experience. I have been trying to get hold of a 4Gs iPhone with any capacity and in any colur but can't find it anywhere in London and my service providers (O2 UK) can't supply an upgrade because they don't have any handsets in stock. On the other hand Samsung and Nokia phones are offered for free on cheap tariffs everywhere. This is non-news to us because these cheap handsets are sold bucket-loads in the Far East and South Asia. Cheap would always sell more, specially in countries with huge populations.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Phogg

In the vicious Apple/Samsung corporate war, Samsung locked Apple out of being able to offer super AMOLED screens early on. For some consumers, the blacker black on a Samsung screen is a factor.

You think Samsung withholding AMOLED screens from Apple is why Apple didn't go with AMOLED early on? Interesting theory.

[monkeyluis]

How many different phones do they have compared to apple. & as others said. This is shipped, not sold.

[RainingLemur]

I'm kinda surprised to see them posting a loss on the TV and monitor section. I always thought that Samsung was one of the most (if not THE most) popular TV makers out there. I figured they were selling like mad.

On second read (reading comprehension not doing so well this early in the morning), I see they're talking about displays themselves and not their own manufactured TVs and monitors.

[Ryvyan]

Speaking of Samsung smartphones, they are so darn big.

[Andrew H.]

I'm more surprised by their lack of success in other areas than I am by their success in the cell phone market. I think that Apple's lead in smartphone sales for a quarter was basically an anomaly and that this is a more normal result.

Samsung makes over 100 phones, covering almost all income levels. It has phones that compete directly against Apple phones (SGII) and phones that, while still smartphones, are not designed to compete with first tier phones (i.e., the continuum). Samsung is in almost every country and on every carrier.

But as long as Apple is making 2/3 of the profits for the entire industry, I don't think that they will change what they are doing.

There is no reason to discount these numbers because they represent numbers shipped rather than sold. Shipping is *almost always* a good proxy for sales. It turned out not to be in the tablet market because so many non-Apple tablets had such bad sales...but in most mature markets, it is a decent indicator. And there is certainly no evidence that retailers are sitting on large quantities of unsold samsung phones.