Apple’s Dash
Major overseas media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal quoted data released by market research firm Canalys, saying that Apple is expected to report its highest-ever quarterly profits. As a result, the gap between Samsung Electronics and Apple in the global market is likely to have been hugely narrowed.
According to Canalys, Samsung accounted for 25 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2014, down 9 percent from the previous year.
Apple, on the other hand, sold 66.5 million units in the final quarter of last year, according to business magazine Fortune. The number is a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, and the figure could be well over 70 million units, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The business newspaper said that the Korean tech giant has maintained the top spot with a variety of product lines, after it snatched the number one position from the U.S. firm in Q3 2011. However, it pointed out that Samsung's share has been falling, owing to sluggish sales of its flagship models and the emergence of homegrown brands in emerging markets.
In contrast, consumers' high expectations for larger iPhones were directly translated into a sudden rise in sales. Apple was able to increase its share, since its strategy to target high-end clients worked, helped by the release of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.
“Samsung is struggling due to the oversupply of other Android devices and the rise of new brands like Xiaomi and Micromax. However, Apple is successful in fending off this kind of competition with a strategy to upgrade its models,” said Chris Jones, principal analyst at Canalys.