Apple Tops Nokia as Most Profitable Handset Maker
November 10th, 2009 at 7:54 PM - News by Jeff Gamet
Apple may make only one smartphone, but that didn't stop the company from surpassing Nokia as the world's most profitable handset maker according to Strategy Analytics. While Nokia cranked out US$1.1 billion in operating profit for the third quarter, Apple's iPhone landed some $1.6 billion in operating profit.
"With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, the PC vendor has successfully broken into the mobile phone market in just two years," commented Strategy Analytics analyst Alex Spektor.
Nokia managed to slip to the number two slot thanks in part to lower margins from the weak economy and a lackluster presence in the United States, according to Telephony Unfiltered.
While Nokia may be trailing Apple in profits, it still ranks as the top mobile phone maker with the largest marketshare at 37.9 percent. Maintaining that marketshare, however, may be a challenge for the company since the iPhone is still coming on strong, and interest is growing in Google Android-based phones.
5 Observer Comments
@Jeff Gamet
> Most profitable isn’t the same as having the most marketshare, but it still
> speaks volumes about Apple’s ability to sell lots of iPhones at a nice profit.
What it speaks to is AT&T’s desperation to gain share, even at the expense of giving Apple the sweetest subsidy deal of all time.
Meanwhile, it raises some interesting questions. (1) What will AT&T do, upon losing their iPhone exclusive. (2) How - if at all - have AT&T prepared for that eventuality, so as not to lose back some of their gains? (3) What will Apple do, upon losing the tremendous cash-flow of their utterly unique AT&T agreement? (4) How - if at all - have Apple prepared for that eventuality?
> The smartphone market is changing, and companies like Nokia are going
> to have to work hard to stay on top of the game.
(5) How will Apple adapt to a new smart phone market, filled with ‘good enough’ Android handsets (in every country and cell network) selling for $50…or perhaps at _no cost_, with any new, 2-year voice/data contract?
“There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It’s a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I’d prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them, than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get.” -Steve Ballmer
I believe the iPhone is around 13-14% of the smartphone market now….
:O
Where did you get this stats from?
Gartner.
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Most profitable isn’t the same as having the most marketshare, but it still speaks volumes about Apple’s ability to sell lots of iPhones at a nice profit. The smartphone market is changing, and companies like Nokia are going to have to work hard to stay on top of the game.