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.
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.
