“For the past few years, Apple has seethed as it watched Samsung grab the buzz and market share lead with its Galaxy phones,” Chris O’Brien reports for VentureBeat. “It wasn’t just losing that bothered Apple. It was getting spanked by a company Apple felt had essentially copied its best smartphone and tablet innovations. Apple launched a global patent litigation war against Samsung that produced a few victories but failed to fundamentally change the competitive dynamic.”
“Now, it turns out, Samsung appears to be in free fall. And it’s collapsing all on its own, without any help from Apple’s legal eagles,” O’Brien reports. “Samsung has warned that its third quarter earnings were going to be even worse than previously expected. In a press release, Samsung said revenues would fall by 20.5% and profits would drop 59.8%.”
“The questions about Apple’s future revolve around how fast it will grow,” O’Brien reports. “That’s the kind of problem Samsung would love to have right now.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Justice comes in many forms, not only from a judge’s gavel.
iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and good ol’ karma – go, babies, go!
An iPhone with a larger screen option will hurt Samsung immeasurably more than myriad, unending traipses through the legal morass. – MacDailyNews, May 2, 2014
Related articles:
Samsung poised for ‘ugly’ quarter as demand for Apple’s bigger iPhone 6/Plus skyrockets – October 6, 2014
Serial copycat Samsung takes South Korea’s stock market down with it – October 3, 2014
Survey: 27% of consumers ditching Samsung phones for Apple iPhone 6/Plus – September 23, 2014
Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6/Plus fueling mass upgrades from Android – September 18, 2014
Apple posts new how-to guide: Switching from Android phone to iPhone – September 16, 2014
Reviewers fall all over themselves to praise Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6/Plus – September 17, 2014
iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus tested at Disneyland: ‘So badass’ – September 17, 2014
Re/code reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘A statement phone,’ not a ‘plastic toy’ – September 17, 2014
Megapixels mean nothing: Apple iPhone 6 trounces Samsung Galaxy S5 in camera shootout – September 17, 2014
The Telegraph reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘It’s peerless’ – September 17, 2014
TechCrunch reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone available’ – September 17, 2014
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6/Plus: ‘Smartphone stars’ – September 17, 2014
Walt Mossberg reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone on the market’ – September 16, 2014
The Wall Street Journal reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone you can buy’ – September 16, 2014
Macworld reviews 64-bit iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus: Bigger is better (in the right hands) – September 16, 2014
Apple is taking the justice in its own hands. May be the patent systems is so corrupted and inefficient but apple doesn’t rely on them to bring justice.
If this was si-fi, apple would be even powerful than superman.
That’s a really good analogy, troy. It would explain why all the FUD in the world hasn’t slowed Apple down noticeably.
I do wonder though, what their equivalent of kryptonite would be? Even stuff like a “loser” CEO, a bunch a fashionistas & saboteurs gumming up the works, and Dr. Dre haven’t damaged Apple from within, and the competition just can’t dent their popularity.
Damage from within can take years to become apparent. The open source community are only just starting to see that now with changes to Firefox and key components of Linux.
Yeah that would be it, just taking longer than the snipers predicted, all the success is just a momentary glitch in the cynics argument. Far more likely than they are just wrong in all of their preminitions of doom of course. Sounds like Dvorak at his best.
Oh get off your high horse. It should’ve been clear to anyone with half a brain that I’m speaking in general terms, not about Apple specifically.
I believe the Sculley era and immediately thereafter proved that Apple’s kryptonite would be a return to that which currently plagues Sony: Marketing As Management. You don’t put marketing people in charge of an invention company. No no no. It’s poison in the river of creativity.
For apple, kryptonite would be the element practically-unobtainium,
look it up, it is element number umpteen-odd in the periodic table, and found only in incredibly small quantities in the remote corners of analysts minds (which are incredibly small to begin with), and also in the spew of competitors minions (which unfortunately is in very large quantities but only seems to strongly affect other minions in the quantities spewed).
It can only be harvested and utilized one analyst or minon spew at a time, so apple is essentially immune to the small outbursts as they present, so i believe Apple will survive, even if AAPL is kept in check by the onobtainium
So, you saying Dr. Dre is a mole working to take Apple down? That’s just silly. I said early on the free market economics principle would sustain Apple where the Court system did not. Dre and Levine is actually a fifth leg for Apple, meaning a stream a revenue not yet realized by Apple. As I also said, I doubt Dre care about what people think about that deal between him and Apple.
I promised someone I would never again explain a joke, however elaborate, even if it doesn’t work, to anyone.
hold your ground, i mean about jokes
it forces others to look within and maybe even admit they may not possess the acumen required to understand the nuances of a complex being
or, maybe, find ultimately their own joke
Actually I’ve done a lot of soul searching. That’s why I responded the way I did. Joking is an excellent way to hide what one is feeling and relay want to say.
In the ancient words of Roger Waters and David Gilmour, “point me to the sky and let it fly.”
Don’t reply to this, but thought you would appreciate based on past conversations……
if the image does not show let me know how to include, since i am obviously a newbie here !-)
cid:C133ADED-A7C2-4096-917C-E0362750406F@gateway.pace.com
Yeastonite?
It turns apple cider into cider vinegar but then cider vinegar is more valuable than apple cider is it not? 🙂
If you keep the apple cider clean, and keep it from air with an airlock during fermentation, it could also turn to hard cider with up to 5% alcohol…. just sayin
I agree that the justice system is corrupted and insanely slow. However, Apple had to sue, if only as a matter of principle. The litigation also served some minor purposes — it forced Samsung to be about 1% less blatant in their IP theft of Apple and it also publicized their thievery.
Meanwhile, the real blow comes from Apple’s innovation like Touch ID that works, Apple Pay, and efficient, fast and lightweight mini-computers like the iPhone 6. A company as unscrupulous as Samsung deserves nothing less than bankruptcy.
Healthy, honest, competitors keep you on your toes and force you to raise your game to stay ahead. Thieves that steal IP and compete with dishonest and manipulative FUD campaigns like Antenna-gate and Bend-gate don’t add anything to society and need to go away.
Yet Samsung lost big in “the court of public opinion” as a direct consequence of the Apple lawsuits.
Agreed. A thief who gets away in a court of law is nevertheless still a thief in most people’s eyes, and call it universal karma if you need to, but being morally hurt eventually starts hurting in real terms.
Meanwhile, I patiently wait for Samsung’s 4th quarter earnings.
The Next Big Thing: iPhone 6 Plus
The larger iPhone has definitely helped. Couple that with enough people stopping purchases of other Samsung devices (TVs, toasters, whatever) and Samsung will hurt even more.
Remember, people, [b]you[/b] have the power to hurt Samsung more than Apple or any other company. It’s our purchases of their devices that keep them on top. Without that, they’d be just another parts supplier with no consumer influence.
I know I’m one of he people boycotting Samsung. I wonder how many people of are the same mind set. It would be interesting to see a survey in that regard.
I’ve never bought a samsung branded product so boycott is fairly pointless. Their store phones do bend though, I tried it out on several and none of them went back to the original shape. Apparently this is how you evaluate an electronic product in android land. I’ve been trying to bend my work-provided Lenovo lappy too.
i have made a commitment not to purchase samsung products.
completely unrelated: I downloaded the MDN app months ago and used it almost exclusively on my iPad 2, where it worked very well.
yesterday i did a software update and the MDN app, if it loads at all, crashes almost immediately. curiously, i purchased iPhone 6 to replace my 4S 4 days ago and i’m having the same problem. Safari is the only functioning gateway I have; i do not have this problem with any other site.
is it iOS 8?
Honest question: What happens to the smartphone market if no one but Apple can make a profit at it? Remember, Samsung was the only profitable smartphone manufacturer other than Apple. Could Apple really carry the whole thing by itself? Could smartphones become like digital music players, where the iPod was eventually the only big name brand in the market?
——RM
I’ve thought about this myself. It seems that Apple and iOS will finally have majority market share in the US but it’ll take a lot of effort and proper execution to maintain that. In other countries Apple still has a long way to go, which is good – there’s room for growth there, especially China.
I think there’s a limit to how much further the iPhone could grow in the US. How much market share does one need? 60%? 70%? I actually don’t like the thought of the iPhone becoming that dominant and ubiquitous and I don’t think it will happen. I think Lenovo and Xiaomi will turn out to be fierce competitors. And Xiaomi has certainly shown that it is at least as shameless as SameDung is.
who cares about market share?
one hint, it is not Apple
give up on market share and dominate in the area that matters
only a fool would chase fame if it did not return dividends in the form of mind share
Charles Manson is one of those fame addicts (the wrong kind of mind share), Mother Theresa is the opposite, not trying for fame but making a significant and recognized impact that garners permanent acknowledgment (sainthood)
think again, and realize that the rest of them are already in the grass as far as profit in the graph of smartphone profit is concernd,
This from a smartphone and Apple prophet….
Strong market share is good if the that share segment is where the money is. I absolutely agree that profit share is more important but I don’t think market share can be totally ignored either. There are economies of scale factors that come into play with high volume – lower component costs, incentives for the app developers, a thriving ecosystem, etc.
I don’t think anyone here wants a Windoze-like Apple/iOS monopoly in the smartphone market. Competition is good. But strong unit market share (especially in the high-end segment) would give Apple some headroom to focus on QC and develop new products in new categories for the long-term future.
Very interesting possibility. Has Google made even dime one from Motorolla?
Well it actually lost over $12 billion. Not sure if that counts as a dime.
google financial accounting procedures definitely class this as a win and analists fully agree with this assessment. Everybody’s happy apparently.
Who makes money from laptops ? Who makes money from Desktops ? Who makes money from tablet computers ? We know who makes money from smartphones. Most tech companies not named Apple are already diminishing, it’s not just confined to the smartphone segment.
A few others make some money, but Apple is the one making the serious profits.
I would suggest that one of the reasons why Apple consistently does well is that it focuses on just a very few products in a given category and then ensures that those products are excellent. Limiting the range and selling a lot of identical units does wonders for manufacturing efficiency.
It’s not a secret, we’ve known about it for ten years or more, but very few other manufacturers have committed to going down that route, they keep offering lots of minor variations of their products.
I read a few years ago that Apple was making 35% of profits in the PC industry despite <10% global units market share. It should be a lot more than that now.
Yes, focus is definitely very important and helps with efficiency. But Apple *does* have a "premium" markup on their products. And Apple could do it because they have a strong differentiating factor: software (OS to apps), platform and an unmatched and meticulously curated ecosystem.
The Apple ecosystem is like a secure and clean gated community while the Windoze and Fragmandroid platforms are chaotic downtown ghettos. And with privacy and security becoming more and more of a concern with all the thugs out there, it just makes sense to pay a little more for that peace of mind.
“a company Apple felt had essentially copied its best smartphone and tablet innovations.”
Oh, fer chrissake, try to use English properly. That is not a “FEELING”. Try said, contended, declared, stated, or a number of other possible verbs.
Yes. Please do try to write more succinctly, like this:
Samsung, a company that blatantly ripped off Apple’s designs, ideas, and products. Next up: Android.
“Try said,…” — and you’re bitching about language?
Having said that, your alternatives have more punch, although the original still conveys the essential concept behind the statement.
=:~)
“although the original still conveys the essential concept behind the statement”
I’d suggest it doesn’t. The word “feel” has two possible effects when used improperly to mean “I think” or “It’s my opinion that”.
It can be used in an attempt to STRENGTHEN an assertion, as in, “I feel you’re talking about me behind my back.” Obviously, this is a matter of fact. You either are or you’re not. My feeling, which may be ‘suspicious’, ‘pissed off’ or ‘anxious’, is a separate point.
Or it can be used to DILUTE a point, as in “a company Apple felt had essentially copied”. Again, this is a matter of FACT, to be argued about. It is not merely a “feeling”, being experienced inside the bodies of various Apple executives.
I think that when people mean “I think”, they should say “I think”, and not try to give the point more authority by putting it into the realm of “feeling”.
Outstanding, wish I had said this. The parties involved in the ascribing also figure in the choice of verb. In using the word ‘felt’, I sensed the author’s meaning as containing an inference of Apple’s knowledge and concern but without knowing its explicit form, choosing to use the weakest form of sensory implication to convey that, rather than see, smell, taste, hear, and think.
🙂
Now, there’s another possibility here: When The opposing representatives shook hands at the end of the trial, the victors could have actually felt clammy, quivering willies in the hands of the guilty. What is perception, after all?
please, don’t challenge my limits, the thought of their clammy, quivering willies is beyond my capacity to imagine, and thankfully so
Relax! Have a home brew!
Quivering willies is a bit worrisome though.
Oh I forgot, there are British people on here, too. Shoulda said heebie-jeebies. My shortsightedness.
Had to after the thought
Actually three
It is also quite possible that the author was referencing Steve Jobs reaction to Samsung’s actions. By all accounts Steve Jobs had an extremely visceral feeling about Samsung’s actions (as in it bothered him so much he physically felt the betrayal by Google and Samsung). Likely others within Apple felt the same.
Samesong also has a $Billion lawsuit from Microsoft for failure to pay agreed upon licensing of patents.
Oh barf!
Samsung seeks Hong Kong arbitration after Microsoft lawsuit
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd initiated an arbitration proceeding in Hong Kong against Microsoft Corp on Tuesday, amid ongoing U.S. litigation over smartphone patent royalties.
The arbitration was disclosed in a court filing as part of a federal lawsuit Microsoft filed in August in New York accusing Samsung of refusing to make royalty payments to Microsoft after the software company announced its intention to acquire Nokia’s handset business. . . .
The new case marked a counter-offensive by Samsung against Microsoft’s claims in New York and could complicate the New York lawsuit.
Sneaky. But it is fun to see two intolerable companies having at each other!
I’m inclined to root for Micro$lop on this one. Lesser of the two evils at this point in time.
Oh, like US politics!
Nailhead, meet hammer.
Don’t we wish.
Too bad the writer couldn’t manage to hide his animus to Apple. Blame Apple for Celebgate. Really? Yes, Maps wasn’t of Google’s standards when it first launched but it has since made significant improvements. Does anybody still kvetch about Maps? And don’t Maps users outnumber Google Maps users among iOS device owners?
… Time to buy s’more marshmallows …
♪♪ Keep the Samsung fires burning,
While our tummies are yearning… ♬
Okay, one more down although Apple will still need to put a fork in SameDung over the next few years. Let’s go down the list…
Sony – √
Dell – √
BlackBerry – √
Nokia – √
HTC – √
HP (including Palm) – √
Microsoft – √
Samsung – √ (more like half-check but getting there)
Anyone significant I miss on Apple’s roadkill path?
Now it’s just Google and, to a much smaller degree, Amazon. And then we will all live happily ever after. Hehe 😉
I’d add PayPal. eBay just spun them off, seeing the approaching headlights of Apple Pay…
i recall a song, from the lamb lies down on broadway, by Genisis, that has a line that goes (during a quiet moment of introspection by the narrator of the song):
“and i’m hovering like a fly……
waiting for the windshield on the freeway” (silence for a moment…..)
BANG, BANG, BANG, (well, change the bangs for actual real music and you get the point, can’t reproduce art in a blog, or maybe…..)
Yes: Google and Amazon.
The order does not matter.
How about the entire typesetting industry?
Kodak
Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Toshiba, Fuji and Polaroid are all toast in the compact camera arena. And samsung. All dead.
SamDung is still making money, just not as much but still making money ….
For sure within 5-6 months we will see many more iphone 6 and 6 pluses in the wild and when people start seeing they will switch but many are just 3-6 months into their contract so it will take a 5-6 months but Apple will see huge gains!
I was not aware that Apple either seethes or laughs regarding Samsung. Apple does what it wants without worrying too much about the competition.