Galaxy
Apple's lead over Samsung in the U.S. widened in April
May 4, 2013: 10:56 AM ETBut Samsung isn't falling behind the iPhone as fast as it was in February or March.
Data: comScore. Chart: Brian Loftus. Click to enlarge.
FORTUNE -- Google's (GOOG) Android, at 52%, took the largest share of U.S. smartphone sales in the three month period (Jan. - Mar.) covered by comScore's report Friday. But it managed to lose 1.4 percentage points sequentially, while Apple (AAPL), at 39%, gained 2.7.
In the Apple vs. Samsung competition, Apple widened its U.S. lead, which now stands at 39% to 21.7%. But as Brian Loftus' chart above shows, Apple is not widening that lead quite as fast as it had been in recent months.
Outside, the U.S., it's a different story. See The mobile world according to Kantar.
Below the fold: comScore's spreadsheets.
-
Chart of the day: Apple iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy sales
The race may be closer than you think
FORTUNE -- Lacking hard numbers (because Samsung doesn't release them anymore) most analysts assume that the bulk of the Korean manufacturer's mobile sales come from its low-end phones. According to Raymond James' Tavis McCourt, Samsung's high-end Galaxy line outsold the iPhone only once -- in the summer of 2012, when many of Apple's (AAPL) customers were holding out for the iPhone 5.
Thanks to Barrons' MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 16, 2013 3:21 PM ET -
Apple v. Samsung, Round 2: Death by narrowing?
Apple will get its second day in court, but must narrow its claims to Samsung's benefit
FORTUNE -- "I don't know if we need two cases on this," Judge Lucy Koh told attorneys for Apple (AAPL) and Samsung last month. She was referring to two suits Apple filed against Samsung in her U.S. District Court alleging infringement of two sets of patents by two sets of Samsung devices.
Apple won the first case, MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 9, 2013 11:55 AM ET -
Apple's 'Think Different' man likes Samsung's ad campaign
Apple is like Obama after the first debate, says TBWA-Chiat-Day's former creative director
FORTUNE -- Ken Segall worked with Steve Jobs for 14 years, during which time he put the i in iMac and found the thread that links Albert Einstein and Amelia Earhart. But though he no longer works as a creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day, Segall is still keeping a close eye on Apple's (AAPL) marketing efforts on his Observatory blog.
And he MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 26, 2013 6:57 AM ET -
Apple and Samsung go head-to-head at the Oscars
Samsung's commercials are telling stories. Apple's are pushing product.
FORTUNE -- At $1.6 to $1.8 million per 30-sec. spot, the Academy Awards are second only to the Superbowl as a high-value stage for advertisers to strut their stuff before a massive TV audience.
Apple (AAPL) ceded the Superbowl to Samsung, whose ad-agency sendup starring Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd ended up going viral on YouTube with more than 21 million hits.
The Oscars MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 25, 2013 7:58 AM ET -
Apple took home 72% of all handset profits last quarter
Samsung had 29%, according to Canaccord Genuity. The rest got nothing.
FORTUNE -- Can you spot the problem with the pie chart at right? If you noticed that the two slices add up to more than 100%, you're on the right track.
Last quarter, Apple (AAPL) and Samsung so dominated the worldwide market for mobile phones (smart and dumb) that the rest of the manufacturers -- including Nokia (NOK), Motorola (GOOG), BlackBerry MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 6, 2013 3:36 PM ET -
Chart of the day: Apple's iPad climbs back to an 81% share
According to Chitika, the iPad has recovered somewhat from its post-Christmas dip
FORTUNE -- There was some consternation among Apple (AAPL) investors in early January when the Chitika Ad Network -- which sells data about the online activities of hundreds of millions of users to its advertising clients -- published a version of the chart at right. It showed the iPad's share of North American tablet Web traffic dropping 7.14% in MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 6, 2013 8:29 AM ET -
If a Samsung Galaxy blows up in Korea, will anybody hear it?
Judging by Google searches, people are much more interested in exploding iPhones
FORTUNE -- I have it on good authority that the lithium-ion batteries used in everything from iPods to Boeing 787s will, under the right circumstances, overheat and self combust. Just this weekend, according to the Seoul-based Chosun Ilbo, a Samsung Galaxy Note caught fire in the pants pocket of a 55-year-old Korean, leaving second-degree burns on his right thigh.
I'd MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 4, 2013 3:35 PM ET -
Samsung's 2-minute Superbowl ad now available on YouTube
LeBron James joins Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Bob ("Breaking Bad") Odenkirk
FORTUNE -- Samsung's official Superbowl ad -- scheduled to air in the game's fourth quarter -- appeared on YouTube overnight. There are no swipes at Apple (AAPL) this time, but like the controversial teaser, the product pitch is so soft-pedaled you can hardly hear it.
The Verge estimates that the 120-second spot cost Samsung more than $15 million in air time alone.
According MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 3, 2013 10:33 AM ET -
Samsung's Superbowl spot: Get-a-Mac's revenge?
The creator of Apple's best-known ad campaign left after his Mac Genius spots bombed
FORTUNE -- I thought Samsung's pre-Superbowl commercial -- the one featuring Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd as copy writers hamstrung by the threat of trademark lawsuits -- was quite clever. Brilliant, even.
But I also wondered whether the inside joke it was making -- about Apple's (AAPL) long-running legal battles with Samsung -- might go over the heads MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 3, 2013 6:34 AM ET
