Apple now the largest mobile phone vendor on earth

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
With sales of its iPhone handset and accessories hitting $10.47 billion in the winter 2010 quarter, Apple has now surpassed Nokia to become the world's largest mobile phone maker in terms of revenue.



Nokia's most recently reported quarter saw its Devices & Services division bringing in 7.17 billion Euros ($9.7 billion), and the company projects Q4 sales of 8.2 to 8.7 billion Euros ($11.4 to $11.7 billion), but this includes more than just its smartphone sales.



Nokia's Devices & Services folds in the company's line of handheld mobile computers, tablets and other devices falling within its Mobile Solutions group, as well as its global sales of non-smart feature phones in its Mobile Phones unit, as well as a Markets unit that manages the company's Ovi-branded services ranging from email to its music and app stores.



Adding Apple's own $1.4 billion in iTunes Store revenues to its iPhone revenues tilts it ahead of Nokia's Devices & Services in the winter quarter, even before threatening to bust the scale with its multibillion dollar iPod and iPad ($4.61 billion itself) sales.



Apple began bragging last year



A year ago, Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs pointed out that Apple's then record $15.6 billion winter quarter had turned it into the "largest mobile device company" in the world, ahead of Nokia, Sony and Samsung.



"I just didn't want to let this moment pass without recognizing it," Jobs said. "It's pretty amazing."



Nokia was quick to dispute the claim, with its own chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo insisting that at the time that Nokia was still the world?s biggest mobile device manufacturer, when using a ?generally accepted and stable definition of mobile devices,? which excluded notebook computers (which Nokia doesn't make in significant quantity).



This year, Apple doesn't have to include MacBook sales in a disputed definition of what a "mobile device vendor" is, and can instead simply snatch the crown of "world's largest mobile phone vendor" from Nokia. The Finnish phone giant has since replaced its former CEO with Stephen Elop, who joined Nokia last September after leaving his previous position as head of Microsoft's Business Division in charge of delivering Office.



Apple's mobile business growing fast



Apple's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer also pointed out Apple's mobile business is growing at a faster pace than even the fastest growing smartphone segment of overall market.



"We were thrilled to have sold 16.2 million iPhones compared to 8.7 million in the previous December quarter," Oppenheimer said in his prepared remarks. "This represents 86% year-over-year growth compared to IDC's latest published estimate of 70% growth for the global smartphone market overall in the December quarter."



Most painful for Nokia is that Apple didn't beat it by flooding the market with cheap low end phones, but rather took away its mobile bragging rights with the kind of high end, Enterprise-savvy smartphone the Finnish phone company has found hard to deliver.



Apple's American invasion of Nokia's backyard



Oppenheimer noted that "Enterprise customers continue to embrace iPhone, with 88 of the Fortune 100 companies and almost 60% of the Financial Times Europe 100 companies now testing or deploying iPhones."



That's more than just an embarrassment to Nokia, which has long owned the European market while struggling to make inroads into North America. It's a direct invasion of its home field, once unquestioning dominated by Nokia's Symbian.



"Enterprise CIOs continue to add iPhone to their approved device list worldwide," Oppenheimer said. "Most recently, Fortune 500, like Wells Fargo, Archer Daniels Midland, DuPont, Staples, Starbucks and Genworth Financial, and Global 500 accounts such as Nissan Motor, BBVA [Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria], Standard Chartered Group and Danone, have made iPhone available to their employees."



Lots of room to expand



Most troubling for Nokia, however, is that Apple is just getting started. Nokia has sat on top of a dominant position in mobile phones for years, much as Microsoft has enjoyed high market share in the PC world. Apple has outpaced both, not by seeking to just capture market share, but by capturing profit share with a limited number of high end devices that are visible and attractive to customers and easier to support.



That gives Apple vast opportunity to continue to expand its share, eating into the mobile and PC markets even as Nokia and Microsoft scramble to hold on to their existing share of those markets through a wide range of low end devices that all blur together for consumers even as they become increasingly difficult and expensive for Nokia and Microsoft to support.



In his Q&A session, Apple's chief operations officer Tim Cook explained, "We've had 19 quarters straight of growing faster than the market [with the Mac], but we still have a relatively low share of a very large PC market despite having great momentum there. And so it would seem like there's enormous opportunity still there.



"We have a relatively low share in the handset market. The handset market is well over 1 billion units a year, and the smartphone market is growing faster than a weed. And so there's enormous opportunity here, and we have incredible momentum in that space."



At the same time, Apple has also introduced iPad as a new product category in a space that neither Microsoft nor Nokia has been able to successfully target, despite years of trying with their Tablet PC and Internet Tablet initiatives.



"iPad just got started, it's a new category," Cook noted. "We sold almost 15 million through the first three quarters, and we believe the market is huge. IDC, I saw this morning, is predicting it to quadruple in two years. I don't know what to predict in terms of specific numbers. However, we believe it's a huge market, as we've said before. And so we're in some great markets, some fast-moving markets, we have the best products we've ever done and an incredible product pipeline. We feel very, very confident."

«134567

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 125
    I Have to say that I would love to give all these Apple head guru's a pat on the back for freaking making some of the best products out there, have some the highest customer satisfaction ratings, and are the most profitable devices sold because they are high end. I love the fact Apple has never competed in the shit low end market and yet they still WOLLOP the competition. Great Job Apple...my hats off to you....Get well soon S.J.
  • Reply 2 of 125
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Daniel, the term is: "in the world". Not: "on earth".
  • Reply 3 of 125
    This should probably be titled "Apple now the highest-revenue phone vendor on earth," or something like that. Because Nokia is a larger company and sells more phones, in terms of # of units. Apple just happens to make a lot more per phone.



    I'm too lazy to look up the stats.
  • Reply 4 of 125
    From a Feb 18, 2007 interview in a Swiss newpaper:



    Palm’s president and CEO Ed Colligan gave a new interview to Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung that was published today. In it, he had the following to say about the Apple iPhone (rough translation from German):



    “In my opinion it looks like a highly developed media player, which by a coincidence includes a mobile phone. It could be interesting for people that need to have both music and films on one iPod, as well as the occasional phone call.” But for businessmen and other types of users the touchscreen without a keyboard will be a challenge, said Mr Colligan.



    According to him, besides computers and iPods Apple developed “nothing at all“. There’s a giant difference between giving speeches and actual development, went on to say Mr Colligan.




    Four years seems like an eternity.........



  • Reply 5 of 125
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    It's a darn shame and embarassment for Nokia and speaks much of their management's ability to stay on top. They've had so many YEARS to get their act together and they spent it sitting on their hands.



    Now, waiting for the Android disciples to come out and spin this....
  • Reply 6 of 125
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    From a Feb 18, 2007 interview in a Swiss newpaper:



    Palm?s president and CEO Ed Colligan gave a new interview to Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung that was published today. In it, he had the following to say about the Apple iPhone (rough translation from German):



    ?In my opinion it looks like a highly developed media player, which by a coincidence includes a mobile phone. It could be interesting for people that need to have both music and films on one iPod, as well as the occasional phone call.? But for businessmen and other types of users the touchscreen without a keyboard will be a challenge, said Mr Colligan.



    According to him, besides computers and iPods Apple developed ?nothing at all?. There?s a giant difference between giving speeches and actual development, went on to say Mr Colligan.




    Four years seems like an eternity.........







    And let's never forget Steve Ballmer's classic reaction!



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So7qrFO_p44
  • Reply 7 of 125
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Daniel, the term is: "in the world". Not: "on earth".



    Perhaps not... has Apple gone intergalactic and not told anyone?
  • Reply 8 of 125
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    From a Feb 18, 2007 interview in a Swiss newpaper:



    Palm?s president and CEO Ed Colligan gave a new interview to Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung that was published today. In it, he had the following to say about the Apple iPhone (rough translation from German):



    ?In my opinion it looks like a highly developed media player, which by a coincidence includes a mobile phone. It could be interesting for people that need to have both music and films on one iPod, as well as the occasional phone call.? But for businessmen and other types of users the touchscreen without a keyboard will be a challenge, said Mr Colligan.



    According to him, besides computers and iPods Apple developed ?nothing at all?. There?s a giant difference between giving speeches and actual development, went on to say Mr Colligan.




    Four years seems like an eternity.........







    Palm has always been the side project of former Apple employees who were the pre-NeXT talent.



    Then a small wave of Apple guys came to help Jon after he left Palm and most of them split off to several other companies. A few former NeXT friends now work at Amazon and do nothing with operating systems.



    A few have completely retired and one runs his own ceramics/pottery business. Yes, four years is an eternity in Silicon Valley.



    For Apple, those four years more than doubled their employees and probably tenfold their engineering talents.
  • Reply 9 of 125
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by imactheknife View Post


    I Have to say that I would love to give all these Apple head guru's a pat on the back for freaking making some of the best products out there, have some the highest customer satisfaction ratings, and are the most profitable devices sold because they are high end. I love the fact Apple has never competed in the shit low end market and yet they still WOLLOP the competition. Great Job Apple...my hats off to you....Get well soon S.J.



    I remember quite a few threads in the past from folks criticizing Apple about their offerings being too expensive and that no one would ever pay for shiny and pretty stuff that can't do what <insert anything else here> can do for 1/2 the price.



    I hear that the humble-pie special at the corner diner is the most-requested meal!



    Consumers want quality, finish, excellent customer service, and good value for their money. Such a shame the other players can't seem to figure that out by now.
  • Reply 10 of 125
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member
    Amazing that they did this with a single phone!
  • Reply 11 of 125
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Consumers want quality, finish, excellent customer service, and good value for their money.



    Actually, modern consumers want BLING \
  • Reply 12 of 125
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Perhaps not... has Apple gone intergalactic and not told anyone?





    My thought as well. You'd think at least one iPhone would have made into space by now.
  • Reply 13 of 125
    Yes its truly amazing what Apple has achieved in a relatively short period of time.

    Words don't give justice to the brilliance, dedication and plain hard work that thousands of Apple employees have put in, I tip my hat to you all.

    I don't like to cast others in bad light (they seem to be able to do this by themselves quite easily), what I would like to say is that in the past many have complained (wrongly) about Apple and it's motives, "too expensive, too cool, all marketing etc.". I still see posts on many media outlets as well as spoken from people on the same lines. I know why they do it, its pure ignorance, it takes time and effort to learn things, its simply human nature to be lazy (majority), that is how Microsoft made a killing. But now we have wonderful products from Apple, and hasn't the experience been awesome, magical and great fun.

    It thrills me when my young children pick up their iDevices and enjoy them, without asking for help, or need of a manual. To me that says it in a nutshell. The other day a friend mocked my iPad, "its a toy", you know why they say this, because its so easy t use, hence they get confused.

    But hang on are not computers meant to be hard to use, this is serious stuff we are using, don't let your 7 year old touch it, they will break it.

    So I think that the greatest accomplishment of Apple is that it has given computers to the masses, simple and elegant to use, underneath, amazing technology, much of it, leading-edge.

    I am so happy that I switched to Apple those many years ago, I have switched others, and will continue doing so, everyone should should benefit fro using wonderful devices.

    I think Apple will continue to amaze us, I am always wondering what new products they will bring out next. I'm sure that over time, the eco-systme will develop much further, and make what is a fun and easy experience, even more fun and easier.

    Again thank You all those at Apple.
  • Reply 14 of 125
    Can buy a nice satellite media distribution system for a little under 10 Billion.



    (Check Direct TV, Iridium, Globalstar and defunct Teledesic deployment costs)



    (For start see: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/R...08?nocomment=1)



    Suggest Apple buy Orbital Sciences if they have not already done it.
  • Reply 15 of 125
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Daniel, the term is: "in the world". Not: "on earth".



    They are both terms.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by crustyjusty View Post


    This should probably be titled "Apple now the highest-revenue phone vendor on earth," or something like that. Because Nokia is a larger company and sells more phones, in terms of # of units. Apple just happens to make a lot more per phone.



    I'm too lazy to look up the stats.



    I think it was in 2008 that they became the most profitable handset maker in the world, but only in 2010 they also took in the most revenue.



    As for for larger, who measures a company?s success by units? if that was the measure then no one, not even Apple, would be making expensive devices. I suppose we?re going to make odd comparison to larger we should go by employee numbers or indoor square footage.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    My thought as well. You'd think at least one iPhone would have made into space by now.



    On space no one can hear you <insert funny comment>

  • Reply 16 of 125
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ... Apple now the largest mobile phone vendor in the world by revenue ...



    This is such a technical victory though. Who cares? and more importantly, why write a story about it? "By revenue" is only important if you are concerned about how much money Apple is making and running the company. It doesn't even matter to investors.



    "The worlds biggest cell phone maker" is the company that makes the most cellphones. Technical metrics like how much money they generate are just not relevant to "who's the biggest" for 99.9% of the population.
  • Reply 17 of 125
    i preferred "on earth"
  • Reply 18 of 125
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 19 of 125
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 20 of 125
    Not postponed, but canceled:



    Quote:

    Nokia, long the world's leading producer of mobile phones by number of units sold, is being hurt by its failure to produce a smartphone that can compete with the iPhone or models based on Google's Android software, as well as by its longtime focus on markets outside the U.S.



Sign In or Register to comment.