
Samsung Outsells iPhone, Breaks Shipping Records - neya
http://mashable.com/2012/07/27/samsung-surpasses-iphone-shipments/
======
programminggeek
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).

~~~
mratzloff
_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
Some of us have tried both and prefer Samsung, fwiw.

~~~
sigzero
Some of us have tried both and prefer Apple, fwiw.

~~~
jarek
Some of us have tried neither but by god I will tell you my opinion!

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kenster07
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.

~~~
ralfd
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
> 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
The competition to which you refer, in this context was proven in the court of
law to have infriged on Apple's copyrights. Thus the suit. Apple allows
plently of competition when they aren't blatently stealing.

~~~
blinkingled
Both the UK and German courts said no to Apple trying to ban Samsung products.
Only in the USA where Apple can manage to patent anything ridiculous are they
gaining some traction with their injunctions. If you manage to patent so much
that no one else can make another phone or tablet it speaks again about them
wanting to totally obliterate the competition. The fact that they are allowed
to do so is another, separate issue but what Apple is pulling isn't anything
near being content.

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mark_l_watson
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-gal...](http://blog.markwatson.com/2012/07/new-cellphone-
samsung-galaxy-s-iii.html))

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
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.

------
Nerdfest
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.

~~~
rimantas
I agree with the first two points, but you may be greatly overestimating 3.

~~~
veidr
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
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.

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czr80
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.

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marvin
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
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
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
It would be interesting if Samsung C&T built Apple's new HQ building.

------
gradstudent
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

~~~
andrewfelix
How on earth is it misleading? It simply states that Samsung _smartphones_
outsold iPhones which runs the gamut of Apple's _smartphone_ offerings. What
other Apple _smartphones_ are there to measure the numbers against?

~~~
gradstudent
The title is linkbait. If the article title was honest it would read "Samsung
sells more smartphones than Apple". Instead, it implies that Samsung has a
top-end smartphone that sells better than Apple's iPhone. Which is not true.
If you need confirmation that this is how people are interpreting the headline
look no further than many of the comments in this very thread.

~~~
andrewfelix
> _The title is linkbait_

You said the _'article'_ was misleading.

~~~
brackin
The article refers to one device from Apple vs tens from Samsung. I think it
would be fairer to compare with one device, such as their most popular one.

~~~
Xylakant
Why would that be fairer? Apple chooses to compete in the market with a clear
lineup of 3 device-classes that each have multiple models differing in the
amount of memory only. They don't offer low-end models. They obviously think
that this is the better strategy. Samsung thinks it is better served by
building more models to serve a higher range of customers. It is perfectly
fair to compare which strategy fares best - and by number of units sold
Samsung seems to be ahead. By revenue, Apple seems to be ahead. Whether that
balance is going to tip is an interesting question, but it's not answered in
this article.

Unfair would be to compare the number of macs sold vs. the number of android
phones sold since those devices don't compete against each other on the same
market.

~~~
folsom
Apple sells the 3GS in the low end market.

Edit: My view may be too US based, but the 3GS costs nothing after carrier
subsidy.

~~~
Xylakant
The 3GS is apples low end model, that doesn't mean it is low end compared to
other models on the market. An 8GB 3GS sells for ~ 370 Euros. That price may
be a bargain for that model, but I can buy Samsung phones much much cheaper.

Edit: Response to the parents edit: Yes, your view is US-based. If I buy a
phone and get a phone contract without subsidy, my contract is cheaper - up to
10 euros/month. I'd be surprised if that's much different in the US - you
always pay for the subsidy in one way or another.

~~~
hammersend
Any phone with a 480x320 screen and free on contract (at least in the US) is
low end. The iPhone 4 would be midrange and the 4S would be high but not the
highest end.

~~~
Xylakant
The 3GS is not free on contract in Germany. Fact is that there are cheaper
phones and that may be of importance in markets where the average wage is
lower than in the us. And since the article is about world-wide number of
devices shipped, that makes a diffence.

------
quesera
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.

~~~
ruggeri
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
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. :)

------
myspy
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
... 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.

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noble
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
Out of interest why does dual SIM matter in India?

~~~
noble
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

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alexeiz
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.

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m_eiman
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.

~~~
drivebyacct2
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.

~~~
dan1234
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?

~~~
nl
_Does anyone have any Android vs iOS vs WP7 stats for the last quarter?_

Sure.

In millions[1]:

Samsung: 93.0

Nokia: 83.7

Apple: 26.0

 _Smartphone_ sales are more difficult to come by, but Gartner has platform
stats for the latest quarter. I have to guess most of these from a chart
republished in The Guardian[2]:

Android: 56%

iOS: ~25%

Symbian: ~12%

Blackberry: ~8%

WinPhone: ~2%

[1] [http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/07/27/samsung-grabs-
record...](http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/07/27/samsung-grabs-
record-26-market-share-after-shipping-93m-smartphones-in-q2-2012/)

[2] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/16/android-
sma...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/16/android-smartphone-
market-50-percent)

------
brk
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.

