IDC finds Apple leads in device value, Samsung in device volume
In a quarterly report published on Monday, research firm IDC found Samsung to have sold a bulk of so-called "connected devices" for the third quarter, but Apple's high-value products netted the Cupertino tech giant the most cash.
The results are somewhat unsurprising given Apple's position as a high-margin producer in the global marketplace, but the study went on to reveal interesting trends in the global computing landscape, noting that the overall "smart connected device market" gained 27.1 percent year-over-year. IDC found that the "collective view of PCs, tablets, and smartphones" reached a record 303.6 million shipments worth around $140.4 billion dollars for the three month period ending in September.
Shipments of connected devices are expected to hit 362 million units worth $169.2 billion in the fourth quarter thanks to a seasonal holiday bump led by tablets and smartphones, which are expected to grow 55.8 percent and 39.5 percent year-to-year, respectively.
On a per vendor basis, Samsung grew an impressive 97.5 percent from 2011 to lead the market with 21.8 percent of all shipments, while Apple trailed with 15 percent. The Cupertino, Calif., company did, however, see a $744 average selling price across all device categories to lead the market with $34.1 billion in quarter three. By contrast, Samsung managed a $434 ASP across its product lines.
"The battle between Samsung and Apple at the top of the smart connected device space is stronger than ever," said Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers Program Manager Ryan Reith.. "Both vendors compete at the top of the tablet and smartphone markets. However, the difference in their collective ASPs is a telling sign of different market approaches. The fact that Apple's ASP is $310 higher than Samsung's with just over 20 million fewer shipments in the quarter speaks volumes about the premium product line that Apple sells."
The trend toward smaller devices is quickly eating into PC shipments as evidenced by HP, which was the only company out of the top five to see negative growth as its marketshare dropped to 4.6 percent. As HP has almost no mobile connected devices on store shelves, the metrics indicate a push to smartphones and tablets, device categories that IDC expects to see grow 95.9 percent and 131.2 percent by 2016, respectively.
IDC calls the current market state a "multi-device era," with smartphones and tablet driving shipments while traditional PCs will continue to lose ground.
"Both consumers and business workers are finding the need for multiple 'smart' devices and we expect that trend to grow for several years, especially in more developed regions," said IDC's Program Vice President of Clients and Displays Bob O'Donnell. "The advent of cloud-based services is enabling people to seamlessly move from device to device, which encourages the purchase and usage of different devices for different situations."
The results are somewhat unsurprising given Apple's position as a high-margin producer in the global marketplace, but the study went on to reveal interesting trends in the global computing landscape, noting that the overall "smart connected device market" gained 27.1 percent year-over-year. IDC found that the "collective view of PCs, tablets, and smartphones" reached a record 303.6 million shipments worth around $140.4 billion dollars for the three month period ending in September.
Shipments of connected devices are expected to hit 362 million units worth $169.2 billion in the fourth quarter thanks to a seasonal holiday bump led by tablets and smartphones, which are expected to grow 55.8 percent and 39.5 percent year-to-year, respectively.
On a per vendor basis, Samsung grew an impressive 97.5 percent from 2011 to lead the market with 21.8 percent of all shipments, while Apple trailed with 15 percent. The Cupertino, Calif., company did, however, see a $744 average selling price across all device categories to lead the market with $34.1 billion in quarter three. By contrast, Samsung managed a $434 ASP across its product lines.
"The battle between Samsung and Apple at the top of the smart connected device space is stronger than ever," said Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers Program Manager Ryan Reith.. "Both vendors compete at the top of the tablet and smartphone markets. However, the difference in their collective ASPs is a telling sign of different market approaches. The fact that Apple's ASP is $310 higher than Samsung's with just over 20 million fewer shipments in the quarter speaks volumes about the premium product line that Apple sells."
Chart: Worldwide Smart Connected Devices Market Forecast Unit Shipments (Millions), 3Q 2012Description: The data in this chart comes from the following IDC Trackers: WW Quarterly PC Tracker, WW Quarterly Tablet Tracker, and WW Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. PC data includes Desktop PCs and Portable PCs. Tablet data does not include eReaders. Mobile Phone Data does not include Feature Phones. For further information contact Kathy Nagamine at [email protected].Tags: Smart, Connected, Devices, Q3, 2012, 3Q, PC, Tablet, Smartphone, IDC, Apple, Samsung, Galaxy, Nexus, Mobile, Phone, notebook, tracker,phone, market, size, share, forecast, predict, shipment, laptopAuthor: IDCcharts powered by iCharts
The trend toward smaller devices is quickly eating into PC shipments as evidenced by HP, which was the only company out of the top five to see negative growth as its marketshare dropped to 4.6 percent. As HP has almost no mobile connected devices on store shelves, the metrics indicate a push to smartphones and tablets, device categories that IDC expects to see grow 95.9 percent and 131.2 percent by 2016, respectively.
IDC calls the current market state a "multi-device era," with smartphones and tablet driving shipments while traditional PCs will continue to lose ground.
"Both consumers and business workers are finding the need for multiple 'smart' devices and we expect that trend to grow for several years, especially in more developed regions," said IDC's Program Vice President of Clients and Displays Bob O'Donnell. "The advent of cloud-based services is enabling people to seamlessly move from device to device, which encourages the purchase and usage of different devices for different situations."
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
"The fact that Apple's ASP is $310 higher than Samsung's with just over 20 million fewer shipments in the quarter speaks volumes about the premium product line that Apple sells."
... speaks volumes about the premium PRICE Apple is charging for its devices
1. To me it speaks volume that there are more people going on the cheap by buying knock-off products as opposed to the minority who buy pristine quality products that are well made, last longer and have been given the utmost care by people who have an eye for detail.
2. I see 4 colors in that chart, but only 3 in the legend.
"Connected devices" is a bizarre product category.
Does that about sums it up?? Or is some fandroid stalking this forum going to spin the article in some way?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
Okay... Apple sells quality stuff, Samsung floods the market with crap.
Does that about sums it up?? Or is some fandroid stalking this forum going to spin the article in some way?
And apparently Wall Street will not be happy until Apple also floods the market with low margin crap because that is the only business model they see working long term. Strangely enough in the car market there seem to be a place for higher margin, premium brand products. But not in consumer electronics even though that has been the case since the mid 80's...
I understand that ASP's probably will have to come down longer term but as long as Apples challange is to make enough product to satisfy demand what is the sense in producing low margin crap to "gain marketshare"? I really do not understand how the pundits comes to this conclusion. The only thing I can see is that if Apple did this, the next collapse in stock price would be because (surprise, surprise!) the margins would go down...
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
Okay... Apple sells quality stuff, Samsung floods the market with crap.
Does that about sums it up?? Or is some fandroid stalking this forum going to spin the article in some way?
Quality stuff? Seems like recently standards fell drastically in Apple Land.
Look at all these gates...
Sincerely yours, fandroid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
Okay... Apple sells quality stuff, Samsung floods the market with crap.
Does that about sums it up?? Or is some fandroid stalking this forum going to spin the article in some way?
Yup. That just about sums it up.
The 'story' is yawn-worthy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathillien
Quality stuff? Seems like recently standards fell drastically in Apple Land.
Look at all these gates...
Sincerely yours, fandroid.
Groan.... another one.....
Sorry, can't look at the *gates yet as I'm reading upon the 1812 tips and tricks on how to save battery life on my Android phone.
Steve Jobs said that Android was 'stolen' property.
Samsung make plastic junk and flood the market with it. They're the M$ of 'hardware.' (But as a company, they're even worse, even more blatant...)
They copied Apple's iPhone to get a head in the smart phone market.
When Apple completely move away from them...they won't have 'fast track' inside knowledge for 'fast following.'
The S3 is just an aped iPhone/iPod design. It's big. Bloated. Bland. (with a cheap plastic and flimsy lid that covers the battery...) It's in no way state of the art. It's interface is fussy and mediocre. They don't even make their own operating system.
Samsung. On my 'no fly' list.
Lemon Bon Bon.
Apple aren't faultless. But I'd rather have Apple kit than not.
They're the ones that make their own OS, design their hardware and use components to bring it all together in a magic sauce Apple style.
I have never had that vibe from M$, Samecrap, Joogle, hyperbola, International Dull Machines etc.
With 120 Billion sitting in the bank, I'm hoping that Apple's future legacy is assured for as long as I need Apple kit.
I got fed up with using the crap from other companies.
Lemon Bon Bon.
But again Wall Street narrow minds only care about unit shipments, they do not care if you making more money than anyone else, they want to see large unit ships even if you have to give a $ away with each shipment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
Samsung sells millions of high-end SIII's and Notes and it still isn't enough to offset all the low-end junk they sell. Yet more facts that prove most Android devices are NOT flagship models, yet haters still refuse to accept it.
I hadn't ever seen anyone make the claim most Android devices are "flagship models". I thought it was pretty well know that moniker is normally assigned to the best of the models in a manufacturers lineup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
Samsung sells millions of high-end SIII's and Notes and it still isn't enough to offset all the low-end junk they sell. Yet more facts that prove most Android devices are NOT flagship models, yet haters still refuse to accept it.
Oh, you are right in one thing (don't get me wrong) - "the junk" thingy is not part of it
Apple is making just one high-end phone per generation (Overpriced IMO but never the less high end), while Samsung makes wide range of phones from high end to low end covering wide price range. Everyone is aware of that - even haters
Now which policy is more successful is debatable.
If you look at the number of sold phones (or number of customers) then Samsung's policy is more successful.
If you look at the company profits then Apples policy is more successful.
The question now is what is more important for you?
The concerns regarding Apple are completely valid. We saw them play out with the PC vs Mac and they could play out again here with smartphones and tablets.
Apple does take the majority of profits and can currently demand more per device. However the smartphone market isn't completely commoditized yet. It's starting to get very close though and when that happens, the price differences due to scale could grow to the point that Apple becomes uncompetitive.
Right now as an example you had several different makers all with different screen sizes and resolutions on Android. Google with their Nexus line has been establishing a sort of middle ground for the Android platform. As an example they set the screen resolution at roughly 4 inches with a resolution of 1280x720 for two years now. Most of the industry has followed a similar suit and now suddenly LG can push out Nexus smartphones for them for an off-contract price of $300.
Take this trend 12 months down the road and you'll have $150-200 Nexus class phone devices and Apple will still be wanting $650.
Apple is a great company. Their ecosystem and device OS are the easier to use by far and for most offer the most complete solution. This is worth a premium. However as noted in the Apple television article though, this premium is about 20-25%. It isn't 100-200%.
Everything in life has a tipping point or a failure point. No one person or company is above such rules. Apple for example never made just one iPod model a year and kept the same price point for it while letting others address the market with all manner of devices. Apple actively went with multiple models at multiple sizes and multiple price points.
They've not done this with the iPhone. They need to do it and they might even need to be willing to entertain some additional standardization to help keep costs down. Finally they really need to get their software act back together. No one is going to keep looking at things like Maps, Podcast and using their iOS devices with iWorks 2009 available ONLY on their Mac as a compelling reason to use an iOS device. Perhaps we could even discuss how using your iOS devices to gather media for use with iLife 11 isn't exactly performing either.
It's like Apple has taken an entire year off or perhaps multiple years off with regard to hardware and software. People are complaining that iOS 6 feels stale. The tent poles for iOS feel beta or underwhelm. We are talking about Siri, Maps, and yes they are advertising taking the iPod app, re-skinning it, removing features and changing the name of it as a tent pole feature of iOS 6.
The latest Apple ad is advertising the noise cancelling microphone of the iPhone 5. I mean most phones have had that for years including iPhone since the 4. It really feels like they are scrapping the bottom of the barrel right now.