Apple and Samsung accounted for more than 100 percent of handset profits generated during 2012.
According to Canaccord Genuity analyst, T. Michael Walkley, the two technology titans generated 101 percent of profits during last year's fourth quarter and 103 percent during the calendar year.
In order to achieve a number that's larger than the whole, the 103 percent figure is made possible after the loses made by several other smartphone vendors is taken into account. Nokia, Sony and Motorola are some of the many technology firms who suffered quarter-on-quarter losses due to the dominance of Samsung and Apple.
"Given the current competitive dynamics, we believe Apple and Samsung will maintain dominant value share during Q1/13 with share gains for Samsung versus Apple expected in Q1/13," Walkley said.
"For Q1/13, we believe Apple's softer-than-anticipated March quarter guidance was due to Apple ramping supply of the iPhone 5 during the December quarter to slightly higher than anticipated inventory levels combined with the potential for an earlier-than-usual product transition during 1H/C2013 for the iPhone," he added.
The analyst, however, stressed that the drop in Apple's stock price is a good opportunity to invest. He believes the firm's "industry-leading software and its leading hardware expertise" will result in solid multi-year product cycles for its flagship devices.
Samsung is believed to have lost overall market share to Apple during the fourth quarter, but the firm remained the top-selling handset maker with a 24 percent share, a decrease from 25.6 percent during 2012's third quarter. It was also believed to have been the leading smartphone manufacturer with a 28.9 percent share during Q4, which is a drop from 32.3 percent in the preceding quarter.
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That said, Walkley expects Samsung's market share to propel during 2013's first quarter due to the expected unveiling and launch of the Galaxy S4 by the end of March. The company itself sells about a quarter of all mobile phones worldwide.
Samsung's Q4 2012 commercial performance saw the company generate profits of $6.6 billion (Q3 profits were $7.4 billion), while Apple made a profit of $13.1 billion.
Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
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s3anister ReplyTwo firms accounted for 101 percent of Q4 profits and 103 percent for 2012.
Forgive me if I'm missing something here, but I thought it wasn't possible to have more than 100% profit in a given sector. Typically, a manufacturer has a portion of the total revenue for that quarter/year being represented as a percentage of a number or ratio as a fraction of 100... Obviously 100 would be the maximum because it represents the total profit from all manufacturers in that industry sector. -
frombehind how the hell can you have anything more then 100% of a total? that does not make any sense... a 103% INCREASE makes sense, but unless the laws the laws of physics and common sense have changed while I was not looking... you jut cant have more then EVERYTHING (100%)Reply -
dthx s3anisterForgive me if I'm missing something here, but I thought it wasn't possible to have more than 100% profit in a given sector. Typically, a manufacturer has a portion of the total revenue for that quarter/year being represented as a percentage of a number or ratio as a fraction of 100... Obviously 100 would be the maximum because it represents the total profit from all manufacturers in that industry sector.You're right, but it's Zak... and he may still be in keynote mode where everything Apple does is always 4x or 8x faster, 48% thinner, and 34% lighter. In his magic world, the universe is not finite and Apple will increase his market share (which is already far over the 100%) and make his sales volume grow exponentially and forever...Reply -
jerm1027 frombehindUghh... Tom's >_<You guys are embarrassing yourselves here"The Authority of Tech"Reply
Can't do simple math. -
builder4 While it would not be possible to have more than 100% of the total revenue, it IS possible to have more than 100% of the total profits for a sector.Reply
Imagine company A made $1,000,000,000 profit in a quarter, and company B made a LOSS of $100,000,000. Assuming there were only 2 companies, the sector would have had total profits of $900,000,000. This would mean company A would have made 111% of the total profits of that sector for that quarter. -
frombehind builder4While it would not be possible to have more than 100% of the total revenue, it IS possible to have more than 100% of the total profits for a sector.Imagine company A made $1,000,000,000 profit in a quarter, and company B made a LOSS of $100,000,000. Assuming there were only 2 companies, the sector would have had total profits of $900,000,000. This would mean company A would have made 111% of the total profits of that sector for that quarter.hmm, kinda makes sense i guess... i dunno financial math is all funky ^.^Reply -
Benthon Financials people. If someone else posts a loss (Like Blackberry in 2012?) then making up their revenue loss would go over 100%.Reply