Speaking to investment firm Canaccord Genuity, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that among the top eight smartphone vendors in the world, U.S.-based tech giant Apple took in 92 percent of industry profits in the first quarter of 2015, up 65 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Apple took in 92 percent of smartphone profits in the first quarter of 2015, up 65 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Apple’s fiercest rival, Samsung, placed a far second with 15 percent of the total operating income. (It’s worth noting that the combined percentages exceed 100 percent because some companies actually lost money from making mobile devices.)
What was even more striking was that Apple only accounted for less than a fifth of unit sales in the said period, as Android OEMs continued to dominate the smartphone market in that regard and competition among handsets running Google’s mobile operating system reached a new stratosphere, with the number of companies manufacturing smartphones now estimated to be about 1,000.
The report went on to say that the disparity in profits was the result of iPhones selling for a much higher price than their Android contemporaries, which are mostly aimed at a budget-conscious crowd, and Apple’s favorable business position as the only brand that makes smartphones running Apple software.
As you probably know, iOS and Android are two of the most successful smartphone operating systems today. To wit: The latest IDC report estimates that handsets running iOS or Android account for 96 percent of units shipped in the first quarter of 2015.
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