asymco's Horace Dediu has released his latest calculations of revenue and profits in the global mobile phone industry, finding that Apple has increased its share of the top vendors' profits to 75%. Samsung followed in second place with 16% of industry profits while no other vendor accounted for more than 4% of profits.
Apple reached 75% of profit share, nearly 40% of revenue share and 9% of units share.
Apple and Samsung combined for about 91% of profits with RIM third at 3.7%, HTC fourth at 3.0% and Nokia last at 1.8% of a $15 billion total for the quarter.
Dediu's analysis covers eight top mobile phone vendors: Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Research in Motion, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson. While the numbers do not include a few major players such as China's ZTE for which public numbers are not available, his analysis does provide a relatively solid picture of the industry.
According to Dediu's numbers, Apple has held the top spot in profits for 13 quarters in row since overtaking Nokia, and now dominates the industry with its 75% share of profits. Apple succeeds by generating high profitability on high-end devices, enabling it to take the majority of profits while still controlling less than 10% of unit sales.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre.
Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public.
There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
Anyway, Amazing that apple takes that much of the profit in this space. Selling similar or often inferior parts for a premium price works well. I hope others don't follow, it will slow down innovation.
You're not selling a device. You're selling User Experience and the ecosystem that's built around it.
Apple sells their smartphones for similar prices to everyone else (they even have cheapie models); they spend more on advertising than other handset makers (judging by the number of ads I see); and they dont get their OS for free! So making that much profit is a real achievement in efficiency and deal-making.
Ya because the 5 or 6 people that jump out of the 1.3 million+ that work there is such a huge percentage. Oh wait, if you actually do any research and read that the percentage is actually lower at Foxconn that the surrounding cities, and considerably lower that the suicide rate in the states just to compare a few. Or the fact any given day there are thousands of people waiting outside the gates hoping to get a job at Foxconn because most don't even have a job and hope they get lucky enough to land a decent job. Ya... let's not mention any of that though.
Then again what fun are forums if ignorance and hyperbol aren't running rampant?
As for the story at hand, I"m glad to see Apple doing well so that others will realize people will pay for quality products and services. I don't want some cheap plastic smartphone with half baked software, I rather enjoy a glass and aluminum phone. I don't mind paying for "style" in my electronics just as I don't mind paying for certain brands of clothes, cars, furniture etc... Apple has proven their marketing, engineering and innovations when done well, pay off. Hopefully others will stop trying to imitate and attempt build an entirely new mouse trap vs just trying to build a better version.
