31 ms·

Samsung Outsells iPhone, Breaks Shipping Records

110 points by neya 14y ago

Nerdfest 14y ago
I think there are 3 main reasons for it. 1 - It's a fantastic phone. 2 - The Apple faithful already have their 4 and 4Ss. 3 - Ship-jumpers: Apple is pissing a lot of people off.
- binarycrusader 14y ago
  It's a fantastic phone; unless you care about the odd blue tinge that the display has (seriously, the way it renders flesh tones put me off). The HTC One X has a better display, but otherwise, the Galaxy SIII seems to be a better phone.
- powerslave12r 14y ago
  Not to mention there are multiple great phones to choose from. Galaxy Nexus and SIII and the ton of S2 variants.
- majorapps 14y ago
  Samsung is not a fantastic phone - its a company that produces fantastic phones.
- rimantas 14y ago
  I agree with the first two points, but you may be greatly overestimating 3.
  - veidr 14y ago
    It's not just developers. A lot of users really hate Apple's rules and overbearing behavior. Retroactively disabling apps like Airfoil speakers, not allowing routine apps like wi-fi signal strength checkers, not allowing porn, not allowing installing apps outside of the app store... shit like that pisses off warehouse workers and preschool teachers I know. It's not just the bogus patent suits and insane restrictions on developers that make people dislike Apple. Developers don't like that shit, but are also in a way more inclined to pragmatically overlook it. Real users are often less forgiving.
    - taligent 14y ago
      Firstly, I don't know which preschool teachers you know but I can't imagine many of them caring about a WiFi signal strength checker (it is already built in), porn (iPhone websites already exist and you can put your own videos on the device) or installing apps from outside the app store. Secondly, you seem to be ignorant of the Cydia App Store where there is a large number of paid apps for the more power users.
  - nilliams 14y ago
    Yep, pissing off the odd developer is not going to eat into Apple's handset sales particularly.
    - SquareWheel 14y ago
      I'm not so sure, after all this lawsuit nonsense I've vowed to not buy another Apple product. I can't in good faith support a company that wants to hurt innovation.
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      - taligent 14y ago
        Interesting to know what phone you will chose. Can't be Samsung, HTC or Google since all three are under investigation for anti-competitive behaviour in abusing their FRAND obligations. And as we know common standards are what foster innovation. Can't be Microsoft since it has a long, questionable history. Meego, Symbian ?
        Gigablah 14y ago
        Common standards? Apple?
        SquareWheel 14y ago
        Who said I was going to buy a phone? I've bought three iPods from Apple in the past as I considered them quality products. I certainly won't be doing that again.
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  - matwood 14y ago
    I think you could be seeing a lot of 3a/3b with 3b being that Andriod JB is finally a damn good OS imho. I have been in Apples camp for a long time simply because I thought they had the best device OS combo out there. Honestly, I'm surprised they were able to stay the best combo for as long as they have. I love competition and can't wait to see what Apple comes up with next.
- baddox 14y ago
  Don't forget all the dirt cheap Samsung phones that get thrown in with service contracts for free or next to free. Also, don't forget that Apple is still dominating in the profit arena. Apple just reported 8.8 billion USD profits for this quarter, while Samsung reported 5.9 billion USD profits.
  - hkmurakami 14y ago
    >Also, don't forget that Apple is still dominating in the profit arena. Here's a great graphic to illustrate this point (2nd chart) [1] [1]: http://www.asymco.com/2012/05/03/the-phone-market-in-2012-a-tale-of-two-disruptions/ http://www.asymco.com/2012/05/03/the-phone-market-in-2012-a-...
    - neya 14y ago
      I see you've been down-voted or no reason. This is one huge problem with Hacker News. Fan-boys will down-vote you for no reason, when you come up with stuff that proves them wrong. Thanks for the link, heads up!
    - SudarshanP 14y ago
      If you a shareholder, that graph is music to your ears. If you are a consumer, that graph may be nice or not depending on how rich you are. If you are the kind that prides yourself in owning expensive stuff, the iDevices definitely help with that. If you are driven by aesthetics, it may be adequate value for money. If you prefer freedom the Androids set you free. Is it not awesome that Apple sets a high bar for aesthetics and the competition commoditizes the market. We all win as a consequence.
    - nl 14y ago
      That chart is nearly 6 months old, and the market is changing so rapidly it is no longer true. Also, if people actually read the whole analysis attached to it, they would see how positive it is about Samsung, not just Apple. To quote: The new market disruption is evidenced by the shift of fortunes to Apple and Samsung and away from every other device maker. Additionally, Samsung is now recording record profits, mostly on the back of rapidly increasing sales of profitable phones. Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday its net profit swelled to 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in the April-June quarter, a 48 percent jump from a year earlier. [snip] In the second quarter, Samsung's mobile division, which makes smartphones, personal computers and network equipment, contributed 63 percent of Samsung's entire operating profit by generating 4.2 trillion won profit.[1] It's true that Samsung's entire phone division doesn't have the high margins Apple does (I've heard ~25% for Samsung vs 35% for Apple), but Samsung sells a lot of low-margin phones, which bring in a lot of revenue even if the profit rate isn't as high. [1] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUVFPSfGFphrumC2lxX_CrNdvGmQ?docId=cae3c210fe594d31830673646f9437e5 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUVFPSfGFp...
- neya 14y ago
  Well said, in a nutshell. And I agree with 3, totally.
- dan1234 14y ago
  4 - Samsung are taking market share from other Android vendors as well as Apple. 5 - Samsung have many more models than Apple most of which are much cheaper and available on contract a minimal cost to the end user.
  - z92 14y ago
    6 - Most people who want to buy an iPhone are waiting for the upcoming iPhone 5. Sales generally diminishes before a big release and crosses all bounds to more than cover the past lag within a month of release.
    - gbog 14y ago
      7 - Apple domination in smartphone segment is ending.
      - atirip 14y ago
        So what exactly makes you happy that from now one South Korean company dominates in smartphone segment? Are South Korean companies and their leaders somewhat better, more ethical, more customer friendly than American or European counterparts. Why you all root for Samsung?
        Tichy 14y ago
        I just root for Android, or rather, for a world that is not dominated by an Apple dictatorship.
        2muchcoffeeman 14y ago
        http://www.asymco.com/2012/03/07/the-unrelenting-trends-in-the-us-smartphone-market/ http://www.asymco.com/2012/03/07/the-unrelenting-trends-in-t... Android beat iOS is market share a long time ago. Over all I think Android phones out sell iPhones 2:1.
        14y ago
- spaghetti 14y ago
  Just want to reiterate number three. The Apple app review process is seriously dropping the ball for me right now. So much so that I've learned the basics of Android development and ported my core app while waiting for the iOS equivalent to be reviewed. Only thing remaining is to acquire an Android test device, test and submit to Google Play.
  - taligent 14y ago
    Well maybe you should wait until you've actually gone through the testing process before commenting. As someone who has experience in having to get apps to run on almost all Android phones it is a very painful experience. Not only do you have the fragmentation between Android versions but there are OEM specific bugs you need to work around. Then comes the fun part of having to support the wide variety of phones. Trust me you'll be quickly missing the stability and simplicity of iOS development.
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    - sjk413 14y ago
      I've been developing in android for about a year and have started developing for iphones a few months ago, I'm new to objective-c, and have to say it's probably my least favourite oop of the few I know. The xcode interface is fantastic for first time app creators that are interested in creating some very standard apps, if you're wanting to break out of the norm though, I find xcode quite suffocating. Sure Android does have the headache of designing for multiple devices, but once you get your head writing your layout files manually it's actually pretty straight forward. I've not submitted an app for publishing on iOS yet, but I'm not looking forward to it. even sharing a dev app with buddies is a nightmare using Apples provisioning profile mess. The iPhone simulator does seem better than its Android counterpart (due to the lack of customization available). Also, how will iPhone apps appear on the iPhone 5 which is likely to have a bigger display? There is nothing in xcode to deal with fitting to multiple device resolutions.
      - 14y ago
- ToesByNoon 14y ago
  Maybe in the neckbeard demographic, but I see more people switching away from Android and Blackberry than I do giving up iPhones.
m_eiman 14y ago
Astounding, new phone model outsells old one about to be replaced soon! edit: Still, 50M is more than the 37M iPhones Apple sold in the iPhone 4S release quarter.
- olalonde 14y ago
  I believe it is the first time Samsung outsells the iPhone by such a large factor (2x).
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  So, with your snark, are you admitting that high end Android phones and iPhones have reached parity, or just that iOS users are leaving for fairer pasturers? I find the attempts at derision of people gaining on Apple highly humorous.
  - m_eiman 14y ago
    I'm mostly complaining about pointless comparisons that only serve to support linkbait headlines.
  - dan1234 14y ago
    Is it not more that Nokia and HTC users are making the jump to Samsung? They'd get a superior model (and there are many Samsung models around at various price brackets) and get to keep their apps. Does anyone have any Android vs iOS vs WP7 stats for the last quarter?
    - tluyben2 14y ago
      I would be curious to those stats as well; here (EU) I see only iPhones & S2+S3 phones. Besides the odd poster here on HN I know no-one who actually likes his/her wp7 phone and all people I knew well who got one brought it back to the shop to trade for an s2 or s3. So i'm also wondering if those sales figures include that; phones which were brought back; I assume they appear in the stats as 'sold phones' right?
    - nl 14y ago
gradstudent 14y ago
The article is misleading. This is not Galaxy S vs iPhone but a comparison of total volume of all smartphones moved by Samsung (many of which are cheap junk) vs total volume of iPhones moved by Apple
- Schlaefer 14y ago
  But if the total volume of iPhones still includes the three year old 3GS, would it be fair to exclude Samsung's entry line?
  - nilliams 14y ago
    In the UK it's £319 for a 3GS. That's still a very expensive phone and you certainly couldn't describe it as entry level. Samsung sells Android phones from around £89.99 [1] (probably cheaper, that was just a quick search). Depending on how you define 'smartphone' this article could also be including even cheaper (non-android) models at around the £50 mark [2]. [1] http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-mini-steel-grey http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-mini-s... [2] http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-samsung-cht-335-metaillic-black/211-2148.prd?skuId=211-2148&pageLevel= http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-samsung-cht-335-met...
    - Schlaefer 14y ago
      That's true. And there are really cheap ones. But it's not only the Galaxy S and the rest is £90 crap. There are price points and models in between. If we compare notebook sales between Apple and let's say Dell, do we only count the 1000+ models just because Apple does not sell their notebooks below 1000? We can argue if the 1100 MacBook is as "good" as the 600 Dell, but who cares? If people buy smartphones for 190 which may be crappy by your/mine/our standard and are happy, so be it. Let's count them.
      - nilliams 14y ago
        Yes, what I'm saying is that there is an implication here that Samsung is winning against the iPhone. In reality they are simply selling handsets at price points Apple is not even competing for. The example you give of Dell vs Apple is a perfect example. Nobody would make the Apple/Dell comparison because it would not be news that more Dell laptops are sold than Apple ones. Whereas this article is trying to make news out of Samsung vs iPhone, due to the fact Samsung has an 'iPhone-like-product'. It is misleading. Not if you read every word, sit back, process, go all hacker-analytic on it... and consequently realise it's not really news. But if you read the article in the way it appears to have been editorialised, picture of S III, focus on the newer models... the fact the somewhat spurious comparison is even being drawn to begin with, you could be inclined to believe this article is saying 'S III et al are beating the iPhone'. It's subtle sure, but it ultimately is not an accurate title for the article, and is very easy to misconstrue. A fairer title would be something like: "Samsung is selling handsets to a broader market spectrum than Apple, will this lead to greater profits in the long-run?" - boring title, granted.
kenster07 14y ago
Apple is the new Microsoft. They license and charge fees for everything. They coerce their users to use their proprietary technologies whenever humanly possible. They try to bully their opponents rather than competing on merit. I, for one, am happy with these trends.
- ToesByNoon 14y ago
  Throw enough shit against a wall and it's bound to stick. Who makes the lion share of the industry profits off of a single phone? I've never met an unhappy iPhone owner, but I've met tons and tons of disgruntled Android users including people with Samsung phones.
- josefresco 14y ago
  Then who's the new Apple? And what does that make Microsoft?
- ralfd 14y ago
  Nope. The old Microsoft was described by Bill Gates famous motto: "A computer on every desk and in every home, all running Microsoft software." They wanted to rule the world. This was never ever Apples philosophy. Not with the Mac, not with iOS. They don't aspire a 99% market share, they are even content with 10% and indeed are deliberately limiting themselves in their product range. They don't want and can't reach every demographic. It is also noteworthy that not many services/products of Apple are subsidized. It was classic Microsoft to use their Windows/Office money machine to enter different segments and outcompete others.
  - blinkingled 14y ago
    > they are even content with 10% Doesn't sound like it when they constantly go suing the heck out of competitors - not for their money but for excluding them out of the marketplace. Microsoft at least allows competition to exist if they pay up reasonably.
    - headShrinker 14y ago
myspy 14y ago
Well, Apple released the 4S last October, Samsung had a couple new devices. It's exactly like last year. "Lackluster performance" - such words come from people which parrot people who appear to be experts, but have not even a basic idea of how Apple operates. The pattern can be seen and you only have to add 2+2. Revenues will get further down this quarter, leading up to the iPhone release and the holiday quarter will break all records again. It will be interesting to see how Apple will stand next to Samsung after that quarter.
- josefresco 14y ago
  ... Meanwhile Samsung will continue releasing more phones quicker, and by the time the record selling iPhone 5 settles down, Samsung will be chugging along, breaking their own records and out selling pretty much everyone.
czr80 14y ago
Samsung has always sold more phones than Apple. What you're seeing here is that Samsung is managing the featurephone -> smartphone transition better than Nokia.
marvin 14y ago
Slightly off-topic, but Samsung is actually an amazingly well-run company. I've been a Samsung shareholder for 5 years, and they consistently deliver in growth and earnings. It's cool to see them succeeding in the smartphone market.
- bane 14y ago
  Samsung Electronics (the division of Samsung that makes the phones) is also about 50% larger than Apple in terms of revenue. ("Samsung" is about 2.5x the size of Apple)
  - dfischer 14y ago
    True, but apple is way more profitable. 2011 Samsung revenue: 247 bil 2011 Samsung net income: 18.3 bil 2011 Apple revenue: 108.2bil 2011 apple net income: 33.79bil Apple is way more profitable. Samsung is a massive company (I don't think many people realize how massive it is). Very interesting to see a real corporate war between the two.
    - bane 14y ago
      It would be interesting if Samsung C&T built Apple's new HQ building.
programminggeek 14y ago
Samsung vs. Apple feels like the Yankees vs. Red Socks or insert your favorite sports teams. Instead of rooting for your favorite sports team, you're rooting for your favorite phone manufacturer or tech company. Also, shipped vs. sold makes any time a company brags on how many phones they shipped very misleading. Many companies are famous for channel stuffing to get the PR boost and to "fake it til they make it". In Samsung's case, the sell through rate is probably pretty high, but still nowhere near as accurate as when Apple says how many devices they sold (as Apple only has 5 days inventory at any given time, Samsung probably maintains months of inventory).
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- mratzloff 14y ago
  Samsung vs. Apple feels like the Yankees vs. Red Socks or insert your favorite sports teams. Instead of rooting for your favorite sports team, you're rooting for your favorite phone manufacturer or tech company. I find the fanboy oneupsmanship from both "sides" highly tedious. As if someone can't praise both Apple and Samsung.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    Some of us have tried both and prefer Samsung, fwiw.
    - sigzero 14y ago
      Some of us have tried both and prefer Apple, fwiw.
      - jarek 14y ago
        Some of us have tried neither but by god I will tell you my opinion!
      - hammersend 14y ago
brk 14y ago
I truly don't understand why people consider this 'news'. Has Apple given some indication that they want to own 100% of the smartphone market, and that every potential smartphone customer should be an Apple customer? I do not think they have, but I also don't follow these things obsessively. If you want to bring up the patent lawsuits, I do not personally believe Apple is opposed to competition, they are just opposed to that competition 'stealing' what they feel (rightly or wrongly) that they have invented. Apple cares about Samsung only to the extent they believe all or part of Samsung's success is built on infringing Apple patents.
quesera 14y ago
I'm sure Apple would love to sell as many phones as Samsung does. But I'm also sure that Apple would prefer to take 2x the profits on 0.5x the unit sales. This is why Apple is so concerned about Samsung selling iPhone lookalikes, though. Samsung has the manufacturing and distribution prowess to do some damage, and Samsung has shown themselves to be a better "fast follower" than Microsoft ever was. With a little help from Google, of course. Imagine if Samsung had to write their own mobile OS.
- CountSessine 14y ago
  They did. It's called Bada. And it's terrible. But they're a great hardware company.
  - pjmlp 14y ago
    > They did. It's called Bada. And it's terrible. Actually many people in Germany seem to like it.
- ruggeri 14y ago
  As someone who owns both an iPhone 4S and a Galaxy Nexus, I can't possibly bring myself to believe that Apple is going to continue making outsized profits in the cell phone market. The Galaxy Nexus is just too good a competitor; Android has gotten so much better. Maybe Apple will find a way to reinvent the smart phone again (a la MBA or iPad to laptop). Barring that, I don't see how they can maintain their dominance. Profits are what matters, naturally, but I think market share is the writing on the wall here. So it goes. Company innovates and offers a wonderful new product, makes ridiculous profit, is shamelessly/lovingly ripped off, loses edge, has to come up with the next big thing or die. The story of free enterprise since forever. This time isn't different.
  - quesera 14y ago
    Keep in mind that Apple makes a superior (or at worst equivalent) product, sells it for the same price, and makes 4x the profit. I agree that market share is a leading indicator, and that Apple's biggest challenge is to run faster than everyone else, while keeping the imitators at bay and not outrunning consumers or the laws of physics. But they've got some runway due to their efficiencies (and cash). It's not sexy, but it's how Tim Cook earned his job, and I don't think anyone at Apple is confused about any of the above. :)
mark_l_watson 14y ago
I had a 2 1/2 year old Droid and was waiting for the iPhone 5. Then 9 days ago I stopped by my local Verizon store and bought the Galaxy S III on an impulse buy after checking out the beautiful 1280x720 pixel display. ( have written about it now being an iPad substitute http://blog.markwatson.com/2012/07/new-cellphone-samsung-galaxy-s-iii.html http://blog.markwatson.com/2012/07/new-cellphone-samsung-gal...) My wife liked my phone so much that she bought one a few days later. Awesome phone. I don't think I have ever been as happy with a device.
- mark_l_watson 14y ago
  Another comment: the high resolution display really makes a huge difference for activities like SSH shelling into servers, browsing the web, showing people slide shows, watching Netflix movies, etc. I actually wish the device were even larger physically with even a higher resolution screen, but I am happy enough with it. I am 6'4" tall, and the Galaxy S III fits really well in my hand. I understand that someone with small hands might not like the phone as much.
noble 14y ago
Samsung caters to the needs of almost every segment. In India they have hugely popular dual SIM (It's a big deal in India) Android phones. I'm sure there will never be a dual SIM iPhone ever. Samsung phones are available even in remote villages , but iPhones are only available in cities. Apple will have to improve their distribution and variety to appeal to new users. So , this trend will only accelerate
- justincormack 14y ago
  Out of interest why does dual SIM matter in India?
  - noble 14y ago
    In case of my wife, she has a private phone number only for friends & family and another one strictly official. There are many uses , * If she leaves her job she can give the SIM back to the company and won't get anymore calls on that * Separate billing. Company pays for official calls only * Switch On/off one SIM or other when required The other use is for bargain hunters. There are so many operators to choose from. The ones with wider coverage are expensive and the others are dirt cheap . So the cheaper one is usually used for making outgoing calls when the signal strength is good. The expensive ones are used for incoming calls (which is free in India. Here calling party pays) or even for outgoing calls when the other one has poor signal. Carrying 2 phones is expensive/inconvenient . So most of the feature phones come with 2 SIM slots in India. Smartphones are now catching up
alexeiz 14y ago
While Apple wasting money on lawyers and law suites trying to ban sales of old Samsung devices, Samsung is spending money on innovation, production of new and increasingly better devices. And surprise surprise - Samsung is capturing more market than Apple! I for one am never buying anything from Apple until they stop this bullshit anticompetitive behavior and start to innovative instead of litigating.

110 points by neya 14y ago

I think there are 3 main reasons for it. 1 - It's a fantastic phone. 2 - The Apple faithful already have their 4 and 4Ss. 3 - Ship-jumpers: Apple is pissing a lot of people off.

binarycrusader 14y ago
It's a fantastic phone; unless you care about the odd blue tinge that the display has (seriously, the way it renders flesh tones put me off). The HTC One X has a better display, but otherwise, the Galaxy SIII seems to be a better phone.
powerslave12r 14y ago
Not to mention there are multiple great phones to choose from. Galaxy Nexus and SIII and the ton of S2 variants.
majorapps 14y ago
Samsung is not a fantastic phone - its a company that produces fantastic phones.
rimantas 14y ago
I agree with the first two points, but you may be greatly overestimating 3.
- veidr 14y ago
  It's not just developers. A lot of users really hate Apple's rules and overbearing behavior. Retroactively disabling apps like Airfoil speakers, not allowing routine apps like wi-fi signal strength checkers, not allowing porn, not allowing installing apps outside of the app store... shit like that pisses off warehouse workers and preschool teachers I know. It's not just the bogus patent suits and insane restrictions on developers that make people dislike Apple. Developers don't like that shit, but are also in a way more inclined to pragmatically overlook it. Real users are often less forgiving.
  - taligent 14y ago
    Firstly, I don't know which preschool teachers you know but I can't imagine many of them caring about a WiFi signal strength checker (it is already built in), porn (iPhone websites already exist and you can put your own videos on the device) or installing apps from outside the app store. Secondly, you seem to be ignorant of the Cydia App Store where there is a large number of paid apps for the more power users.
- nilliams 14y ago
  Yep, pissing off the odd developer is not going to eat into Apple's handset sales particularly.
  - SquareWheel 14y ago
    I'm not so sure, after all this lawsuit nonsense I've vowed to not buy another Apple product. I can't in good faith support a company that wants to hurt innovation.
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    - taligent 14y ago
      Interesting to know what phone you will chose. Can't be Samsung, HTC or Google since all three are under investigation for anti-competitive behaviour in abusing their FRAND obligations. And as we know common standards are what foster innovation. Can't be Microsoft since it has a long, questionable history. Meego, Symbian ?
      - Gigablah 14y ago
        Common standards? Apple?
      - SquareWheel 14y ago
        Who said I was going to buy a phone? I've bought three iPods from Apple in the past as I considered them quality products. I certainly won't be doing that again.
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- matwood 14y ago
  I think you could be seeing a lot of 3a/3b with 3b being that Andriod JB is finally a damn good OS imho. I have been in Apples camp for a long time simply because I thought they had the best device OS combo out there. Honestly, I'm surprised they were able to stay the best combo for as long as they have. I love competition and can't wait to see what Apple comes up with next.
baddox 14y ago
Don't forget all the dirt cheap Samsung phones that get thrown in with service contracts for free or next to free. Also, don't forget that Apple is still dominating in the profit arena. Apple just reported 8.8 billion USD profits for this quarter, while Samsung reported 5.9 billion USD profits.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  >Also, don't forget that Apple is still dominating in the profit arena. Here's a great graphic to illustrate this point (2nd chart) [1] [1]: http://www.asymco.com/2012/05/03/the-phone-market-in-2012-a-tale-of-two-disruptions/ http://www.asymco.com/2012/05/03/the-phone-market-in-2012-a-...
  - neya 14y ago
    I see you've been down-voted or no reason. This is one huge problem with Hacker News. Fan-boys will down-vote you for no reason, when you come up with stuff that proves them wrong. Thanks for the link, heads up!
  - SudarshanP 14y ago
    If you a shareholder, that graph is music to your ears. If you are a consumer, that graph may be nice or not depending on how rich you are. If you are the kind that prides yourself in owning expensive stuff, the iDevices definitely help with that. If you are driven by aesthetics, it may be adequate value for money. If you prefer freedom the Androids set you free. Is it not awesome that Apple sets a high bar for aesthetics and the competition commoditizes the market. We all win as a consequence.
  - nl 14y ago
    That chart is nearly 6 months old, and the market is changing so rapidly it is no longer true. Also, if people actually read the whole analysis attached to it, they would see how positive it is about Samsung, not just Apple. To quote: The new market disruption is evidenced by the shift of fortunes to Apple and Samsung and away from every other device maker. Additionally, Samsung is now recording record profits, mostly on the back of rapidly increasing sales of profitable phones. Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday its net profit swelled to 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in the April-June quarter, a 48 percent jump from a year earlier. [snip] In the second quarter, Samsung's mobile division, which makes smartphones, personal computers and network equipment, contributed 63 percent of Samsung's entire operating profit by generating 4.2 trillion won profit.[1] It's true that Samsung's entire phone division doesn't have the high margins Apple does (I've heard ~25% for Samsung vs 35% for Apple), but Samsung sells a lot of low-margin phones, which bring in a lot of revenue even if the profit rate isn't as high. [1] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUVFPSfGFphrumC2lxX_CrNdvGmQ?docId=cae3c210fe594d31830673646f9437e5 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUVFPSfGFp...
neya 14y ago
Well said, in a nutshell. And I agree with 3, totally.
dan1234 14y ago
4 - Samsung are taking market share from other Android vendors as well as Apple. 5 - Samsung have many more models than Apple most of which are much cheaper and available on contract a minimal cost to the end user.
- z92 14y ago
  6 - Most people who want to buy an iPhone are waiting for the upcoming iPhone 5. Sales generally diminishes before a big release and crosses all bounds to more than cover the past lag within a month of release.
  - gbog 14y ago
    7 - Apple domination in smartphone segment is ending.
    - atirip 14y ago
      So what exactly makes you happy that from now one South Korean company dominates in smartphone segment? Are South Korean companies and their leaders somewhat better, more ethical, more customer friendly than American or European counterparts. Why you all root for Samsung?
      - Tichy 14y ago
        I just root for Android, or rather, for a world that is not dominated by an Apple dictatorship.
        2muchcoffeeman 14y ago
        http://www.asymco.com/2012/03/07/the-unrelenting-trends-in-the-us-smartphone-market/ http://www.asymco.com/2012/03/07/the-unrelenting-trends-in-t... Android beat iOS is market share a long time ago. Over all I think Android phones out sell iPhones 2:1.
        14y ago
spaghetti 14y ago
Just want to reiterate number three. The Apple app review process is seriously dropping the ball for me right now. So much so that I've learned the basics of Android development and ported my core app while waiting for the iOS equivalent to be reviewed. Only thing remaining is to acquire an Android test device, test and submit to Google Play.
- taligent 14y ago
  Well maybe you should wait until you've actually gone through the testing process before commenting. As someone who has experience in having to get apps to run on almost all Android phones it is a very painful experience. Not only do you have the fragmentation between Android versions but there are OEM specific bugs you need to work around. Then comes the fun part of having to support the wide variety of phones. Trust me you'll be quickly missing the stability and simplicity of iOS development.
  - deleted 14y ago
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  - sjk413 14y ago
    I've been developing in android for about a year and have started developing for iphones a few months ago, I'm new to objective-c, and have to say it's probably my least favourite oop of the few I know. The xcode interface is fantastic for first time app creators that are interested in creating some very standard apps, if you're wanting to break out of the norm though, I find xcode quite suffocating. Sure Android does have the headache of designing for multiple devices, but once you get your head writing your layout files manually it's actually pretty straight forward. I've not submitted an app for publishing on iOS yet, but I'm not looking forward to it. even sharing a dev app with buddies is a nightmare using Apples provisioning profile mess. The iPhone simulator does seem better than its Android counterpart (due to the lack of customization available). Also, how will iPhone apps appear on the iPhone 5 which is likely to have a bigger display? There is nothing in xcode to deal with fitting to multiple device resolutions.
    - 14y ago
ToesByNoon 14y ago
Maybe in the neckbeard demographic, but I see more people switching away from Android and Blackberry than I do giving up iPhones.

m_eiman 14y ago

Astounding, new phone model outsells old one about to be replaced soon! edit: Still, 50M is more than the 37M iPhones Apple sold in the iPhone 4S release quarter.

olalonde 14y ago
I believe it is the first time Samsung outsells the iPhone by such a large factor (2x).
drivebyacct2 14y ago
So, with your snark, are you admitting that high end Android phones and iPhones have reached parity, or just that iOS users are leaving for fairer pasturers? I find the attempts at derision of people gaining on Apple highly humorous.
- m_eiman 14y ago
  I'm mostly complaining about pointless comparisons that only serve to support linkbait headlines.
- dan1234 14y ago
  Is it not more that Nokia and HTC users are making the jump to Samsung? They'd get a superior model (and there are many Samsung models around at various price brackets) and get to keep their apps. Does anyone have any Android vs iOS vs WP7 stats for the last quarter?
  - tluyben2 14y ago
    I would be curious to those stats as well; here (EU) I see only iPhones & S2+S3 phones. Besides the odd poster here on HN I know no-one who actually likes his/her wp7 phone and all people I knew well who got one brought it back to the shop to trade for an s2 or s3. So i'm also wondering if those sales figures include that; phones which were brought back; I assume they appear in the stats as 'sold phones' right?
  - nl 14y ago

gradstudent 14y ago

The article is misleading. This is not Galaxy S vs iPhone but a comparison of total volume of all smartphones moved by Samsung (many of which are cheap junk) vs total volume of iPhones moved by Apple

Schlaefer 14y ago
But if the total volume of iPhones still includes the three year old 3GS, would it be fair to exclude Samsung's entry line?
- nilliams 14y ago
  In the UK it's £319 for a 3GS. That's still a very expensive phone and you certainly couldn't describe it as entry level. Samsung sells Android phones from around £89.99 [1] (probably cheaper, that was just a quick search). Depending on how you define 'smartphone' this article could also be including even cheaper (non-android) models at around the £50 mark [2]. [1] http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-mini-steel-grey http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-mini-s... [2] http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-samsung-cht-335-metaillic-black/211-2148.prd?skuId=211-2148&pageLevel= http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-samsung-cht-335-met...
  - Schlaefer 14y ago
    That's true. And there are really cheap ones. But it's not only the Galaxy S and the rest is £90 crap. There are price points and models in between. If we compare notebook sales between Apple and let's say Dell, do we only count the 1000+ models just because Apple does not sell their notebooks below 1000? We can argue if the 1100 MacBook is as "good" as the 600 Dell, but who cares? If people buy smartphones for 190 which may be crappy by your/mine/our standard and are happy, so be it. Let's count them.
    - nilliams 14y ago
      Yes, what I'm saying is that there is an implication here that Samsung is winning against the iPhone. In reality they are simply selling handsets at price points Apple is not even competing for. The example you give of Dell vs Apple is a perfect example. Nobody would make the Apple/Dell comparison because it would not be news that more Dell laptops are sold than Apple ones. Whereas this article is trying to make news out of Samsung vs iPhone, due to the fact Samsung has an 'iPhone-like-product'. It is misleading. Not if you read every word, sit back, process, go all hacker-analytic on it... and consequently realise it's not really news. But if you read the article in the way it appears to have been editorialised, picture of S III, focus on the newer models... the fact the somewhat spurious comparison is even being drawn to begin with, you could be inclined to believe this article is saying 'S III et al are beating the iPhone'. It's subtle sure, but it ultimately is not an accurate title for the article, and is very easy to misconstrue. A fairer title would be something like: "Samsung is selling handsets to a broader market spectrum than Apple, will this lead to greater profits in the long-run?" - boring title, granted.

kenster07 14y ago

Apple is the new Microsoft. They license and charge fees for everything. They coerce their users to use their proprietary technologies whenever humanly possible. They try to bully their opponents rather than competing on merit. I, for one, am happy with these trends.

ToesByNoon 14y ago
Throw enough shit against a wall and it's bound to stick. Who makes the lion share of the industry profits off of a single phone? I've never met an unhappy iPhone owner, but I've met tons and tons of disgruntled Android users including people with Samsung phones.
josefresco 14y ago
Then who's the new Apple? And what does that make Microsoft?
ralfd 14y ago
Nope. The old Microsoft was described by Bill Gates famous motto: "A computer on every desk and in every home, all running Microsoft software." They wanted to rule the world. This was never ever Apples philosophy. Not with the Mac, not with iOS. They don't aspire a 99% market share, they are even content with 10% and indeed are deliberately limiting themselves in their product range. They don't want and can't reach every demographic. It is also noteworthy that not many services/products of Apple are subsidized. It was classic Microsoft to use their Windows/Office money machine to enter different segments and outcompete others.
- blinkingled 14y ago
  > they are even content with 10% Doesn't sound like it when they constantly go suing the heck out of competitors - not for their money but for excluding them out of the marketplace. Microsoft at least allows competition to exist if they pay up reasonably.
  - headShrinker 14y ago

myspy 14y ago

Well, Apple released the 4S last October, Samsung had a couple new devices. It's exactly like last year. "Lackluster performance" - such words come from people which parrot people who appear to be experts, but have not even a basic idea of how Apple operates. The pattern can be seen and you only have to add 2+2. Revenues will get further down this quarter, leading up to the iPhone release and the holiday quarter will break all records again. It will be interesting to see how Apple will stand next to Samsung after that quarter.

josefresco 14y ago
... Meanwhile Samsung will continue releasing more phones quicker, and by the time the record selling iPhone 5 settles down, Samsung will be chugging along, breaking their own records and out selling pretty much everyone.

czr80 14y ago

Samsung has always sold more phones than Apple. What you're seeing here is that Samsung is managing the featurephone -> smartphone transition better than Nokia.

marvin 14y ago

Slightly off-topic, but Samsung is actually an amazingly well-run company. I've been a Samsung shareholder for 5 years, and they consistently deliver in growth and earnings. It's cool to see them succeeding in the smartphone market.

bane 14y ago
Samsung Electronics (the division of Samsung that makes the phones) is also about 50% larger than Apple in terms of revenue. ("Samsung" is about 2.5x the size of Apple)
- dfischer 14y ago
  True, but apple is way more profitable. 2011 Samsung revenue: 247 bil 2011 Samsung net income: 18.3 bil 2011 Apple revenue: 108.2bil 2011 apple net income: 33.79bil Apple is way more profitable. Samsung is a massive company (I don't think many people realize how massive it is). Very interesting to see a real corporate war between the two.
  - bane 14y ago
    It would be interesting if Samsung C&T built Apple's new HQ building.

programminggeek 14y ago

Samsung vs. Apple feels like the Yankees vs. Red Socks or insert your favorite sports teams. Instead of rooting for your favorite sports team, you're rooting for your favorite phone manufacturer or tech company. Also, shipped vs. sold makes any time a company brags on how many phones they shipped very misleading. Many companies are famous for channel stuffing to get the PR boost and to "fake it til they make it". In Samsung's case, the sell through rate is probably pretty high, but still nowhere near as accurate as when Apple says how many devices they sold (as Apple only has 5 days inventory at any given time, Samsung probably maintains months of inventory).

deleted 14y ago
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mratzloff 14y ago
Samsung vs. Apple feels like the Yankees vs. Red Socks or insert your favorite sports teams. Instead of rooting for your favorite sports team, you're rooting for your favorite phone manufacturer or tech company. I find the fanboy oneupsmanship from both "sides" highly tedious. As if someone can't praise both Apple and Samsung.
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  Some of us have tried both and prefer Samsung, fwiw.
  - sigzero 14y ago
    Some of us have tried both and prefer Apple, fwiw.
    - jarek 14y ago
      Some of us have tried neither but by god I will tell you my opinion!
    - hammersend 14y ago

brk 14y ago

I truly don't understand why people consider this 'news'. Has Apple given some indication that they want to own 100% of the smartphone market, and that every potential smartphone customer should be an Apple customer? I do not think they have, but I also don't follow these things obsessively. If you want to bring up the patent lawsuits, I do not personally believe Apple is opposed to competition, they are just opposed to that competition 'stealing' what they feel (rightly or wrongly) that they have invented. Apple cares about Samsung only to the extent they believe all or part of Samsung's success is built on infringing Apple patents.

quesera 14y ago

I'm sure Apple would love to sell as many phones as Samsung does. But I'm also sure that Apple would prefer to take 2x the profits on 0.5x the unit sales. This is why Apple is so concerned about Samsung selling iPhone lookalikes, though. Samsung has the manufacturing and distribution prowess to do some damage, and Samsung has shown themselves to be a better "fast follower" than Microsoft ever was. With a little help from Google, of course. Imagine if Samsung had to write their own mobile OS.

CountSessine 14y ago
They did. It's called Bada. And it's terrible. But they're a great hardware company.
- pjmlp 14y ago
  > They did. It's called Bada. And it's terrible. Actually many people in Germany seem to like it.
ruggeri 14y ago
As someone who owns both an iPhone 4S and a Galaxy Nexus, I can't possibly bring myself to believe that Apple is going to continue making outsized profits in the cell phone market. The Galaxy Nexus is just too good a competitor; Android has gotten so much better. Maybe Apple will find a way to reinvent the smart phone again (a la MBA or iPad to laptop). Barring that, I don't see how they can maintain their dominance. Profits are what matters, naturally, but I think market share is the writing on the wall here. So it goes. Company innovates and offers a wonderful new product, makes ridiculous profit, is shamelessly/lovingly ripped off, loses edge, has to come up with the next big thing or die. The story of free enterprise since forever. This time isn't different.
- quesera 14y ago
  Keep in mind that Apple makes a superior (or at worst equivalent) product, sells it for the same price, and makes 4x the profit. I agree that market share is a leading indicator, and that Apple's biggest challenge is to run faster than everyone else, while keeping the imitators at bay and not outrunning consumers or the laws of physics. But they've got some runway due to their efficiencies (and cash). It's not sexy, but it's how Tim Cook earned his job, and I don't think anyone at Apple is confused about any of the above. :)

mark_l_watson 14y ago

I had a 2 1/2 year old Droid and was waiting for the iPhone 5. Then 9 days ago I stopped by my local Verizon store and bought the Galaxy S III on an impulse buy after checking out the beautiful 1280x720 pixel display. ( have written about it now being an iPad substitute http://blog.markwatson.com/2012/07/new-cellphone-samsung-galaxy-s-iii.html http://blog.markwatson.com/2012/07/new-cellphone-samsung-gal...) My wife liked my phone so much that she bought one a few days later. Awesome phone. I don't think I have ever been as happy with a device.

mark_l_watson 14y ago
Another comment: the high resolution display really makes a huge difference for activities like SSH shelling into servers, browsing the web, showing people slide shows, watching Netflix movies, etc. I actually wish the device were even larger physically with even a higher resolution screen, but I am happy enough with it. I am 6'4" tall, and the Galaxy S III fits really well in my hand. I understand that someone with small hands might not like the phone as much.

noble 14y ago

Samsung caters to the needs of almost every segment. In India they have hugely popular dual SIM (It's a big deal in India) Android phones. I'm sure there will never be a dual SIM iPhone ever. Samsung phones are available even in remote villages , but iPhones are only available in cities. Apple will have to improve their distribution and variety to appeal to new users. So , this trend will only accelerate

justincormack 14y ago
Out of interest why does dual SIM matter in India?
- noble 14y ago
  In case of my wife, she has a private phone number only for friends & family and another one strictly official. There are many uses , * If she leaves her job she can give the SIM back to the company and won't get anymore calls on that * Separate billing. Company pays for official calls only * Switch On/off one SIM or other when required The other use is for bargain hunters. There are so many operators to choose from. The ones with wider coverage are expensive and the others are dirt cheap . So the cheaper one is usually used for making outgoing calls when the signal strength is good. The expensive ones are used for incoming calls (which is free in India. Here calling party pays) or even for outgoing calls when the other one has poor signal. Carrying 2 phones is expensive/inconvenient . So most of the feature phones come with 2 SIM slots in India. Smartphones are now catching up

alexeiz 14y ago

While Apple wasting money on lawyers and law suites trying to ban sales of old Samsung devices, Samsung is spending money on innovation, production of new and increasingly better devices. And surprise surprise - Samsung is capturing more market than Apple! I for one am never buying anything from Apple until they stop this bullshit anticompetitive behavior and start to innovative instead of litigating.