The battles between Apple and Samsung have taken up a large chunk of blog-space this year, but whilst the Cupertino company may have recently prevailed in the courtroom over its bitter rival, back in the mobile market, it appears the Korean company is making very good headway.
Samsung took Apple’s crown as the number one smartphone vendor earlier this year, and now its flagship Galaxy S III device has overtaken the iPhone 4S as the number one selling smartphone. When the S III was first released back in July, it sold in very high numbers, but Apple’s Siri-toting handset still managed to outsell its shiny Android rival.
Of course, the anticipation regarding the next iPhone, or the iPhone 5 as we’re led to believe it’ll be named, is to blame for the slump in sales, although Tim Cook will still be far from delighted with the findings, compiled by Michael Walkley at Canaccord Genuity. Whenever a new device is on the horizon, consumers hold back and wait for it to release, and anybody liking to own the latest and greatest would certainly be foolish to purchase an iPhone 4S with this month’s purported release looming.
Once upon a time, consumers could be a little more blasé with their handset decisions, for carriers did used to offer annual contracts. Now, though, the mainstream providers tie people down for eighteen months to two years, so those whom otherwise wouldn’t have minded owning an older device for a few months to a year will now cling on for that extra month or so to avoid owning an ancient device in future.
A fairer measure of the iPhone vs. Galaxy S series will be this Fall, when the two go head-to-head for the affections of holiday shoppers. The Galaxy will have the disadvantage of being slightly older, and having already shifted in excess of 10 million units, it’ll have its work cut out against Apple’s sixth-gen smartphone.
This is a minor victory for Samsung, nothing more; but with the likes of the very slick, very brushed-aluminum ATIV S dropping for Windows Phone 8 in the near future, the LCD specialist will have plenty of leverage for cementing its position as the number one smartphone manufacturer.
(via Bloomberg)
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