With the recent launch of Galaxy Note 7, Samsung has extended its dominion over the smartphone market. And, in the process, it has pushed Apple down the leader board. Aww shucks!
Apple was already lagging behind. The 15% dip in global sales hasn’t done anything to bolster their image. Then, Samsung went ahead and reported a 5.5% increase in their sales. Oooh, the burn. Burnol leke aao koi!
Selling over 79 million units this year, Samsung has gobbled up 22.8% of the entire smartphone market. While Apple has slipped down to a measly 11.9 %, following a slow year in sales.
Samsung’s numbers were greatly helped by the launch of Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in March this year. In contrast, the iPhone SE launched by Apple in April hasn’t created any ripples.
Overall, this has been a slow year for Apple. Contrary to expectations, this compact, feature-loaded phone did not fly off the shelves. And they can’t blame the global economy, because it seems to be favouring Samsung greatly.
But then, to be fair to Apple, their portfolio is a lot more diversified than Samsung’s. Look at the sheer volume of services that Apple provides – iTunes, Apple Music, App Store. By themselves, Apple Services are already en route to becoming a Fortune 100 company.
There’s also the matter of Apple’s humongous research spending. This past year, Apple “burned” nearly $8 billion into the development of undisclosed products. There’s no way of telling what the future holds with certainty, but we can hazard a guess that unless Samsung is willing to invest heavily in R&D, Apple is sure to drown them in innovation!
For now, however, our focus is on the smartphone market. In the hard fought war for market share, Apple has steadily been losing ground. Samsung, meanwhile, continues to be the dominant player. And Apple has a lot of catching up to do.
We hope that the launch of iPhone 7 this September will bring better tidings for Apple. However, until then, things look bleak. And gloomy. Buck up, Apple, buck up!
