Pie chart of the day: Apple's share of smartphone profits
December 11, 2012: 10:07 AM ET"Apple and Samsung are the only investable smartphone brands" -- Citi Research
Top 8 smartphone OEMs. 2012 profit pool is 70% Apple and 30% Samsung. All others losing money. Source: Citi
FORTUNE -- Things look grim for everybody but Apple (AAPL) and Samsung in the profitable segment of the smartphone market, according to a note to clients issued Tuesday by a team from Citi Research. The pie chart above and the paragraph below say it all:
Smartphone Market Faces Dramatic Structural Changes - At the high end (US$500+), Apple and Samsung continue to dominate. At the lower end, internet/software companies will lead in US$200-300 phones and Chinese brand and whitebox players will annex the sub-US$200 segment many with a zero hardware profit model. Given the rising competition, we expect many traditional mid priced US$200-500 smartphones to be wiped out in the next few years, leaving little future for companies that lack high-end exposure.
