There are many vendors battling for supremacy in the mobile market. Nokia and BlackBerry are both trying to reinvent themselves on new and overhauled ecosystems, while the likes of LG and HTC continue to plug away on Google’s Android. All these companies have enjoyed varying levels of success over the years, but they all have one thing in common in today’s market – they’re all playing in the shadows of Apple and Samsung. Two of tech’s biggest names, they sell devices in the tens of millions every quarter, and the Q2 mobile device revenue figures once again illustrate how far ahead the bickering titans are when compared to the chasing pack.
Apple’s recent earnings call may have shown signs that some of the Cupertino’s key products are faltering somewhat, but nevertheless, the iPhone continues sell in strong numbers. The continued growth of the iPhone, as well as the popularity of Samsung’s latest flagship Galaxy S4, make for happy reading on the revenue tot-up from mobile analyst Benedict Evans, and although Nokia still leads the way from the rest of the field, there’s a considerable drop from the dizzy heights of Samsung and Apple in terms of revenue.
Both the leading companies continue to fight out the patent wars in the courts, and while Samsung is still a key manufacturing partner of Apple’s in producing some integral components of the iOS device range in particular, there’s no love lost between the two. Tim Cook’s outfit has been looking to distance itself from Samsung by teaming up with new suppliers of internal hardware, but even though their business relationship is under strain, the two companies still recognize one another’s ability to sell handsets.
As well as showing the gulf between Samsung, Apple and the rest, the chart also suggests there’s not much to call between the bottom-feeders, and although HTC’s One handset has impressed as a part of an overhaul of the Taiwanese company’s marketing strategies, neither seem to be paying dividends just yet.
That said, nothing is cut-and-dried in the mobile sphere, and you only have to look back at the past success of BlackBerry and Nokia for evidence of that. Loyalties aside, I do hope some of the other companies can gain some traction and compete with the big two, for a more competitive market is always going to work in the favor of the consumer.
(Source: BenedictEvans)
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