Samsung is the largest smartphone maker in the world in terms of revenue, according to Strategy Analytics’ data obtained by Korea’s Yonhap News. The manufacturing giant broached $23.6 billion US in smartphone revenue in the first quarter of 2013, coming in ahead of Apple’s $22.95 billion.
The two companies have been trading places in recent quarters based on the cyclical release schedule of their flagship products; the iPhone 5 was released at the end of the third quarter, bringing Apple an enormous fourth quarter. Apple announced it sold nearly 48 million iPhones in fiscal Q1 (calendar Q4 2012) and 37.4 million iPhones in Q2.
Samsung’s Galaxy S4, which has sold in numbers over 10 million in less than a month, helped the company climb back to the number one revenue spot for the first quarter of this year; the company sold over 63 million smartphones in the first three months of 2013.
Apple still holds the top spot in terms of operating profit, though, beating out Samsung by around 10%.
The chart above, curated by Enders Analysis’ Benedict Evans, shows that despite a relatively small amount of unit share, and only a moderate amount of industry revenue share, Apple and Samsung combine for a staggering 95% of all smartphone operating profit.
LG nudged past Nokia in terms of smartphone sales in the first quarter, but the Finnish firm outclassed the Korean rival in terms of revenue.
There’s still considerable competition for third place in the industry, it seems, but Samsung and Apple appear to have the top two spots firmly in place.
Source: Yonhap News, Benedict Evans (Twitter)
Via: TheNextWeb
