While Apple is posting record quarters and selling iPhones hand over fist, major competitor and formerly the largest smartphone maker in the world Samsung has posted its own earnings for the October through December time period. Unfortunately for Korean firm’s shareholders though, things aren’t looking quite so rosy for the makers of the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4.
Coming shortly after Apple announced record quarterly earnings of $18 billion, Samsung has been forced to announce that its own earnings have declined by no less than 27% for the most recent quarter, leaving it with a net profit of $4.9 billion or 5.3 trillion won. For comparison’s sale, the same quarter last year saw Samsung rake in 7.3 trillion won.
While Apple’s big success is largely down to the release of the larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung has seen its own annual earnings decline in three years following a fifth straight quarter of poor results. Samsung’s 2014 profit sat at 25 trillion won, down from the 36.8 trillion won it managed to make in 2013.
Previous numbers have already pointed to Apple’s move into the larger phone market cannibalizing Samsung’s market share in Asia, with demand has historically been for smartphones of the larger variety. With the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus now catering for that very market it is becoming clear that Samsung’s previous lead in the area is being eroded substantially.
With earnings being announced all the time right now, chip maker Qualcomm has also reported its own results with the most interesting news being that the firm has lost one of its major customers. Believed to be Samsung, the loss is a significant one with concerns over the amount of heat created by the new Snapdragon 810 processor weighing heavily on the minds of engineers.
(via: Reuters)
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