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yalanand
@daleste, I agree with you. People have the perception that Apple products are ...
yalanand
Just wondering if this is the beginning of the fall of the Apple brand.I think ...
Samsung eating Apple's smartphone iLunch
Peter Clarke
7/30/2012 4:26 PM EDT
LONDON – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has regained the lead in the smartphone market in 2Q12, six months after losing out to Apple, according to market research firm IHS-iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.).
Samsung's sales rose 5 percent to 36 million units, up from 34 million in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Apple suffered a 26 percent decline in shipments to 26 million units, down from 35 million in the first quarter, according to the market research firm.
It could be that people are holding off from acquiring Apple iPhone's because of rumors the iPhone 5 is going to launch in September. However, if that launch gets pushed back due to a shortage of 28-nm silicon Apple could be left with egg its face.
While the other smartphone companies disclose exact shipment numbers for overall cellphones and smartphones, Samsung doesn’t provide precise figures, instead offering general guidance. Because of this, IHS estimates the Samsung cellphone and smartphone shipment numbers.
Wayne Lam, senior analyst, wireless communications, for IHS, said that by the end of the second quarter, there were about 3 million iPhones in the sales channel that had not been sold to consumers. He said he expected Apple's sales to bounce back once the iPhone 5 goes on sale.
Smartphone shipments from Nokia declined by 14 percent in 2Q12 to 10 million units, down from 12 million in 1Q12. The fact the Symbian based cell phones are still outselling Windows-based Lumia phones indicates that Nokia is a long way from turning the company around, said Lam.

"With the Galaxy SIII, Samsung launched the Samsung Music Hub featuring its own music streaming and download service in which the consumer has a direct billing relationship with Samsung," said Daniel Gleeson, mobile media analyst for IHS, in a statement. "Samsung is trying to replicate the strong loyalty iPhone users have to Apple's phones, ensuring a solid base for future sales. While almost all Android manufacturers try to provide some user-interface differentiation to add value to their brands, this is one of the first instances of a smartphone manufacturer directly offering consumers a service."
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chipmonk
7/30/2012 6:41 PM EDT
Peter :
Would appreciate clarification to one of your statements above ( para 3, line 6 ) :
" .. a shortage of 28-nm silicon Apple .. "
Is that what you really meant ? Or is it still 32 nm ( Samsung )
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peter.clarke
7/31/2012 9:06 AM EDT
I meant 28-nm as in Qualcomm. There is some speculation that Qualcomm may have key silicon in the next iPhone and, as has been reported, Qualcomm are saying they won't be getting all the silicon they need at that node until somewhere towards the end of the year.
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RGRU
7/30/2012 7:05 PM EDT
Why is this 36 million unit number for Samsung 15 million units different than every other report that had Samsung shipping over 50 million in the second calendar quarter? Just google 50 million and Samsung. There are hundreds of stories.
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hm
7/30/2012 8:52 PM EDT
It will difficult for Apple with iPhone5 too. Apple needs to consider lowering iPhone5 price.
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GREAT-Terry
7/30/2012 10:06 PM EDT
Wow, ZTE and Huawei are growing fast!
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chanj
7/30/2012 10:37 PM EDT
China's population is 3 times of US's population. If product is priced right to the China market, I am sure the percentage growth of Huawei and ZTE phone will be substantial.
In terms of actual units, it's about the same as Samsung's.
The table doesn't show HTC sales. I wonder where they are.
In addition, what's breakdown of Andriod and Windows in Samsung sales?
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daleste
7/30/2012 10:38 PM EDT
What companies haven't reported results yet?
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peter.clarke
7/31/2012 9:07 AM EDT
Motorola?
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garydpdx
7/31/2012 11:52 AM EDT
Since the Motorola Mobility sale to Google has gone through, won't those results be reported with GOOG?
Motorola Solutions, the 'classic' Motorola, has reported with a so-so quarter. (Remember, the company was split in two.)
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eewiz
7/31/2012 5:13 AM EDT
I was reading another report which claims samsung sold 50.5m smartphones instead of the 36m claimed in this report. Goes on to show that how random these guesses are.
http://mashable.com/2012/07/27/samsung-surpasses-iphone-shipments/
Anyways majority of the phones sold by samsung will be cheap useless phones with 0 margins. The revenue/profit nos says it all. Apple made ~9B profit from 35B sales. Samsung made 5.8B from 41.5B sales.
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garydpdx
7/31/2012 11:50 AM EDT
If Apple's iPhone 5 is delayed, they could hold release until November in time for the holiday season and create a sales avalanche to block other vendors.
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selinz
7/31/2012 4:23 PM EDT
At least in the US market, Motorola and HTC have a significant smartphone presence. Would be nice to have them on the list.
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rick.merritt
8/1/2012 1:59 AM EDT
I think Apple has too much riding on its one-big-phone-a-year approach to push it back for anything short of a nuclear holocaust.
Anyway, Apple will not use Snapdragon chips. They will use their own A-series SoC made at Samsung, or TSMC or whoever will be the first to happily give them a taste of their latest process tech, and Apple will and can pay a premium for 28nm as well as anyone because they have the highest priced phones.
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daleste
8/1/2012 11:34 PM EDT
Many Samsung is selling more phone because Apple has the highest priced phones.
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yalanand
8/5/2012 10:52 PM EDT
@daleste, I agree with you. People have the perception that Apple products are costly and thus many times they dont buy Apple products. But reality is Samsung Galaxy is priced costlier than iPhone 4.
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iniewski
8/1/2012 3:25 PM EDT
Most comments above are related to technology and chip supply in general...I get a sense that Samsung sells better since their phones are now more cool than Apple, especially for young people...I think this is main reason for Samsung getting ahead...Kris
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yalanand
8/5/2012 10:48 PM EDT
Just wondering if this is the beginning of the fall of the Apple brand.I think release of Samsung Galaxy SIII really helped Samsung to capture bigger market share.
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