Apple and Samsung: Bad blood gets badder

“The smartphone war is often depicted as a battle between iOS and a world of Android phonemakers, but a report released this week suggests that in terms of profit, Apple really has one main challenger — Samsung,” Rachelle Dragani reports for MacNewsWorld.

“The South Korean manufacturer and Apple together account for 95 percent of the Q4 2011 profit in the handset industry, according to a report from Canaccord Genuity. Apple accounted for 80 percent of the industry’s profit in that time frame, outselling all other smartphones combined at AT&T and Sprint, the report states,” Dragani reports. “Samsung has stepped up to the plate and captured 15 percent of the remaining profit.”

MacDailyNews Take: Some “main challenger.” If this were a basketball game, it would be 80-15; the 2011 NCAA National Champion Kentucky Wildcats vs. Mount Holyoke College. (Note for Samsung: Mount Holyoke is an all-female institution.)

Dragani reports, “With Samsung as a main competitor, Apple can focus its attack against a single challenger… The competition for profit is only going to worsen the blood feud between the two companies. The two are already engaged in multiple heated legal battles over patents.

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
Apple’s iPhone gobbles lion’s share of mobile phone profits, slavish copier Samsung a distant second – April 3, 2012
iOS devices bring Apple $576.30 each, Google gets only $3.50 per Android device – April 3, 2012
Google’s Android has generated just $550 million since 2008, but billions from Apple iPhone, figures suggest – March 30, 2012
With 8.7% market share, Apple reaps 75% of mobile phone profits – February 3, 2012

29 Comments

  1. Has anyone seen the new ads for the Samsung television? With people touching it and swiping in the air? Pretty funny stuff.

    It’s like Microsoft’s touch screen computer, meets WebTV, meets… I don’t know, something else that sucked.

    1. Yeah it is bit ridiculous. These types of technologies are never implemented properly and are just gimmicks. The commercial is of course simulated to make it look like it could be a good thing, but in practice it never works that way. I have an old Samsung TV that someone gave me, it has volume control which is supposed to keep the volume at a level setting. It doesn’t work properly and is annoying as hell, seems like it just randomly turns the volume up and down.

      1. Yup. It’s like Samsung reads the rumor mill and slaps a prototype together, assuming they’ll beat Apple to it.

        I don’t think Steve Jobs spent the last however long “cracking” a TV interface only to come up with that.

        Reminds me of Microsoft’s attempt at making touch screen laptops, assuming that’s what Apple was going to do.

        1. I just saw that commercial for the first time tonight. You have to get in front of the TV and wave your arms around to access features instead of simply using a remote. Who the hell in their right mind would see that as desirable?

  2. “With Samsung as a main competitor, Apple can focus its attack against a single challenger… ”

    Sorry Rachelle, you just don’t get it, and probably never will. Apple doesn’t focus on profits, or on their competition. They focus on their customer, and the experience that customer has with their products.

    That is the reason Apple will win, and take 80%+ of any available profit. Also, units shipped doesn’t equal units sold.

    1. SHHHhhhh! Quit helping Apple’s “competitors” out will ya? As long as Apple listens to its inner voice (and customers in a strange way [see Steve’s rule about focus groups]) while Samsung and the others listen to analysts and reporters then those others will continue to flounder around. I can wish that because I’m one who believes Apple didn’t create great products because of competition — it created them because existing solutions are ugly.

  3. You do remember that just a couple years ago when Apple had virtually no share of the computer market don’t you MDN? I don’t see Samsung pulling even with Apple anytime soon but in a year they will increase their 15 percent. Apple should dominate for the foreseeable future but competitors aren’t going to give up (except for RIMM) anymore than Steve Jobs gave up. At one time nobody could have predicted Sony going to hell either. It happens. C’mon MDN, you just reprint stories that enrage the fanboys you don’t need to add your 2 cents.

      1. Ha ha, at a party over the weekend I met a loudmouth fool in the investment business who had just started heavily shorting AAPL. He also was going long Nokia. Concerned for his family, I tried to point out all the many flaws in his reasoning. He shouted me down. Fine I said, short more AAPL on Monday morning and buy more NOK. He yelled at me that he would. Although not a financial professional, I have had considerable investment success especially with Apple and know its story from every angle. AAPL is far from peaking.

    1. “competitors aren’t going to give up”

      Palm went belly up.
      IBM left the PC business. HP is on and off whether it wants to continue its PC line. WebOS is in limbo.
      100 plus android tablets shown at CES last year, many never reached production i.e they ‘gave up’ BEFORE they even started.

      Sony, Phillips, Sandisk, iRiver, Creative Nomad, Toshiba, Saehan, Diamond Rio, Cowan, Archos, Zune, and whole bonk of others (like dozens!) Vs iPod :some of these are still around but many of the dozens ‘have given up’.

      when the android phone makers realize they aren’t making money they will give up too. Motorola would be broke if Google didn’t buy it and HTC has announced profit warnings.

  4. With Samsung as a main competitor, Apple can focus its attack against a single challenger

    Bullshite. The actual problem here is that Apple has NO REAL COMPETITOR. Historically, that has never boded well for customers.

    HEY SOMEONE! Get busy ACTUALLY competing with Apple! Please!!!

    As for Samsung: Soooo screwed. Nasty little plagiarizing parasites.

  5. This is one of the growing reasons why Apple must purchase Sony and LG, so Apple can manufacture its own components by itself without needing the help of Samsung.

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