Samsung trumps Nokia on handset sales
From the FT:
Samsung Electronics overtook Nokia as the world’s largest mobile phone maker by sales in the first quarter and regained the top spot from Apple in the fast-growing smartphone market, according to analysts.
Samsung did not break out smartphone and handset shipments, but the world’s largest technology company by sales sold 93.5m handsets in the first quarter for a 25.4 per cent share of the global mobile phone market, market researcher Strategy Analytics estimated. That surpassed Nokia’s 22.5 per cent market share on sales of 82.7m phones, and Apple’s 9.5 per cent slice.
In the smartphone market, Samsung shipped 44.5m units in the first quarter, taking 30.6 per cent of the market while Apple shipped 35.1m units with a 24.1 per cent market share, according to Strategy Analytics.
The growing popularity of its Galaxy smartphones has helped the South Korean group catch up with US rival Apple, and the two together now control 90 per cent of the high-end smartphone market, say analysts at Bernstein, a research house.
Samsung’s performance in the first quarter ended a 14-year run for Nokia as the world’s top vendor of handsets. Nokia has been struggling in the face of fierce competition and poor sales of its latest Windows-based Lumia phones, and last week posted a first-quarter operating loss of €1.4bn ($1.8bn).
“Samsung’s smartphone success in the first quarter was the flipside of Nokia’s disappoint,” Matt Evans, CLSA analyst, said in a recent report.
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The group said net profit soared 81 per cent from a year earlier to Won5.1tn ($4.5bn) in the January-April period with operating profit nearly doubling to a record Won5.9tn.
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Samsung shares, which have gained 29 per cent so far this year, rose 2.5 per cent to close at a record high of Won1.37m on Friday. The group has a market value of $191bn, nearly one-third of Apple’s $582bn. Nokia shares, which have more than halved in the last year, fell 0.8 per cent in Helsinki to €2.73, giving the Finnish group a market capitalisation of €10.5bn.
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