Samsung Retains Top Spot In Global Smartphone Sales, Looks To Galaxy S6 For Profit Resurgence
Following a rocky stretch in which Samsung found itself sitting on an inventory of unsold Galaxy S5 devices as profits moved in the wrong direction, things are once again looking up for the South Korean electronics company. Revenue and profits are up sequentially, and demand is high for the company's recently launched Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones.
Samsung said it collected 47.12 trillion won (around $44.3 billion), up 11 percent from the previous quarter, en route to an operating profit of 5.98 trill won (around $5.6 billion). That's the highest it's been in three quarters and is 690 billion won (around $648.6 million) more than the company profited in the prior three-month period.
The future suddenly looks bright for Samsung. According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung skipped ahead of rival Apple to reclaim pole position as the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume. Samsung did it by shipping 83.2 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of 2015, enough to snag a 24 percent share of the market, though that's still down from 31 percent a year prior.
By comparison, Apple shipped 61.2 million smartphones in the same period, giving the Cupertino company an 18 percent share of the market, up from 15 percent in the same quarter a year ago, though down from nearly 20 percent last quarter.
While Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices are "wildly popular in China and worldwide," it appears that Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Plus are proving worthy competitors, at least for now. It will be interesting to see how consumers adopt these devices over the long run.
Samsung said it collected 47.12 trillion won (around $44.3 billion), up 11 percent from the previous quarter, en route to an operating profit of 5.98 trill won (around $5.6 billion). That's the highest it's been in three quarters and is 690 billion won (around $648.6 million) more than the company profited in the prior three-month period.
The future suddenly looks bright for Samsung. According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung skipped ahead of rival Apple to reclaim pole position as the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume. Samsung did it by shipping 83.2 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of 2015, enough to snag a 24 percent share of the market, though that's still down from 31 percent a year prior.
By comparison, Apple shipped 61.2 million smartphones in the same period, giving the Cupertino company an 18 percent share of the market, up from 15 percent in the same quarter a year ago, though down from nearly 20 percent last quarter.
While Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices are "wildly popular in China and worldwide," it appears that Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Plus are proving worthy competitors, at least for now. It will be interesting to see how consumers adopt these devices over the long run.
