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With just 4% of mobile market, Apple owns 52% of profits

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:34PM EST
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Apple’s iPhone accounted for just 4.2% of the mobile handsets shipped in the third quarter of 2011, but the company still managed to rake in more than half of the industry’s profits. Among the eight top cell phone vendors in the world, Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley said Apple accounted for 52% of total operating income between them. The figure is down from 57% in the second quarter. Samsung accounted for 29% of profit among top vendors, up from 18% in the June quarter, and HTC accounted for 9% of total operating income. RIM’s value share slid to 7% from 11% in the prior quarter, and Nokia dipped three points to 4%. Read on for more.

“Apple generated a remarkable 52% value share of estimated Q3/C2011 handset industry operating profits among the top 8 OEMs,” Walkley wrote in a research note on Friday. “With only 4.2% global handset unit market share, it is remarkable Apple captures more than 50% of industry profits.”

Walkley also made it a point to highlight Samsung’s meteoric rise among smartphone vendors. “Demonstrating the importance of a strong smartphone offerings relative to industry profits, Samsung gained a remarkable 11 points of value share sequentially with its leading Android Galaxy S II product offering,” The analyst wrote. “RIM and Nokia lost a combined 7% value share due to its aging smartphone portfolios that are in transition.”

Canaccord now expects Apple to ship 29 million iPhone handset in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from the firm’s earlier estimate of 27 million. Walkley also increased his price target on Apple from $545 to $560 with a Buy rating.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.