Apple has become the most profitable manufacturer of mobile devices, collecting 52% of the operating profit of this industry in the last quarter. At the same time, Apple’s share in the smartphone market was only 4.2%.
Compared to the previous year, the company’s profit increased by 5%. And this is against the background of the fact that Apple’s market share has even decreased: in particular, the share of the iPhone fell from 5.4% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2011 due to Samsung smartphones, which, taking advantage of the expectation of a new iPhone, managed to be the largest supplier in the last quarter.
Analysts from Canaccord Genuity noted that the situation repeats exactly the opposite: in 2007, 67% of profits belonged to Nokia, while Apple had only 4% of its iPhone. Now the companies have switched places: Apple receives more than half of the profits in the industry, and Nokia – only 4%.
Apple’s closest rival is still Samsung with its Android-based devices: both companies together received about 81% of operating profit for the last quarter. However, given how much hope everyone is now pinning on smartphones with Windows Phone from Nokia, the situation may change next year.