iPhone V Samsung Galaxy S II. It was always going to be an epic battle.
We were all eagerly awaiting Samsung’s quarterly results to see if the Koreans could pip Cupertino to the smartphone post.
Just last week, Apple announced record iPhone shipments of 20.34 million handsets. In other words, phenomenal.
So, how did Samsung do? Well, it failed to outrun Apple, although just about.
Samsung shipped 19.2 million handsets – just over 1 million less than its iOS arch rival.
Analysts just this week predicted Samsung’s figure could be as high as 21 million, thus beating Apple as No.1 smartphone vendor.
However, although the Galaxy S II maker failed to seize the No.1 crown, this 19.2m figure marks a jaw dropping jump on the same quarter last year – over 500% to be precise – from 3.1m a year ago.
According to IDC analysts, the giant now has 17.5% of smartphone market share, compared to Apple’s 18.5%.
Noka is also holding on to third position with 15.2% market share and 16.7 million shipments, according to analyst figures, meaning the Californians have ousted former European top dog Nokia as the top smartphone maker.
iPhone 4 maker’s growth has sprouted over 300% compared to a year ago – jumping from 8.4 million in Q2 2010 to the all time high of 20.3m unit handset shipments.
In Q2 Samsung’s telecoms business, which includes mobiles, more than doubled its operating profit, from 630 billion won to 1.67 trillion won, owed to the strong sales of its flagship Galaxy models.
Total operating profit, as predicted, fell by 25 per cent to 3.75 trillion won in the period. And, despite the slump in growth, remains the world’s biggest technology firm based on revenue.
Samsung sold a total of 70.2 million phones during the second quarter, 5 million of which were Samsung’s newly unleashed Galaxy S II, released here in May on Android 2.3 and available in 120 nations, which sold in just 85 days.
The Korean maker also enjoys huge success on low end basic phones, which run on Bada OS, and plan to launch new models later this year, a market segment Apple has avoided to date.
And it looks like Samsung are the one to watch, analysts now believe.
“Although Apple’s 142% YoY growth placed it as number one this quarter, Samsung’s 500% YoY growth shows that going forward, the top smartphone OEM position is Samsung’s to lose,” says ABI Research Senior Analyst, Michael Morgan.
However, there is talk of a cheapie iPhone 4 hitting town later this year – probably September – along with iPhone 5, so we’ll have to wait and see.
