In its best quarter ever, the global smartphone industry raked in total operating profits of US$12.5 billion during Q1 2013, of which the Android platform accounted for US$5.3 billion, or 43 percent. Apple continues to lead as the most profitable smartphone maker — thus Apple’s iOS the most profitable platform — with 57% of the total profits.
In the Android market alone, Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits — US$5.1 billion of US$5.3 billion during the first quarter of 2013.
These numbers are according to a new report from Strategy Analytics, which tracks smartphone market share quarterly.
“An efficient supply chain, sleek products, and crisp marketing have been among the main drivers of Samsung’s impressive profitability,” says Woody Oh, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics. “LG followed in second place and took 3 percent global profit share. LG delivered a small profit during the quarter, but it currently lacks the volume scale needed to match Samsung’s outsized profits.”
Strategy Analytics calculates that Samsung generates more revenue and profit from the Android platform than Google does. “Samsung has strong market power and it may use this position to influence the future direction of the Android ecosystem,” says Neil Mawston, the research firm’s Executive Director. “For example, Samsung could request first or exclusive updates of new software from Android before rival hardware vendors.”
Strategy Analytics’ full report, “Samsung Captures 95 Percent Share of Global Android Smartphone Profits in Q1 2013,” is available here.
According to a similar report from UK based research firm Canalys, Android handsets accounted for 75.6% of total smart phone shipments in Q1 2013, and Samsung dominated once again, growing its volume by 64.3% year-on-year, which helped its market share exceed 32%. In contrast, Apple saw modest annual growth (6.7%) in its smart phone shipments – the lowest level since the launch of the original iPhone back in 2007. Huawei, LG and ZTE completed the top five smart phone vendors, all with less than 5% market share each.
Smart phone shipments came in at just over 216.3 million for the quarter — maintaining the strong growth (47.9% this quarter, says Canalys. Of that, Apple still shipped over 37 million iPhones.
You can find more details from Canalys’ new report here.
