Neil Hughes
Last quarter, Apple's iPhone took a record 89 percent share of smartphone operating profits, directly causing another record for the holiday shopping season: an all-time low for devices running Google's Android.
The latest breakdown of industry profits by operating system from Strategy Analytics was released on Thursday and provided to AppleInsider. Total smartphone operating profits reached $21 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, up 31 percent year over year, thanks entirely to Apple.
That growth was led by Apple and its blockbuster iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which captured the overwhelming majority of the industry's profit. Android, meanwhile, was relegated to a record-low of 11 percent global smartphone profit share during the quarter.
Apple's share of smartphone profits was also up significantly from the fourth quarter of 2013, when iOS and the iPhone represented a 71 percent share. Apple's profits grew from $11.4 billion in the holiday 2013 quarter to $18.8 billion a year later, while all devices running Android fell from $4.8 billion to $2.4 billion in the same quarters.
All other competitors — Â Microsoft, BlackBerry, and others — Â did not turn a profit in either the holiday 2013 or holiday 2014 quarters.
"Apple's strategy of premium products and lean logistics is proving hugely profitable," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Android's weak profitability for its hardware partners will worry Google. If major smartphone manufacturers, like Samsung or Huawei, cannot make decent profits from the Android ecosystem, they may be tempted in the future to look at alternative platforms such as Microsoft, Tizen or Firefox."
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54 Comments
I think Microsoft's profits are being overstated there... ;) I can see why they want Office on iOS though! :D
It's not going to worry Google at all. First off, they don't care a lick about the schlubs who sell Anderoid phones. Second, where are those partners going to go? It's not like there are profitable alternatives. So when more phone makers exit markets and close up shop, will Apple get blamed for that too? Or will blame go where it belongs(Mountain View) this time?
Several years ago, I figured that smart phones would go the way of personal computers. Apple would be the biggest single brand, and Windows would dominate the units sold, but for phones Android would represent Windows in that comparison.
Looks like that path has been extended to margins as well. It's pretty funny. Apple does such a good job with business in general.
Bad news for Apple: the closer they get to a 100%, they harder it is for growth. /s
[quote name="TheWhiteFalcon" url="/t/184954/apples-iphone-commands-record-high-89-of-smartphone-profits-while-android-plummets-to-record-low#post_2681546"]It's not going to worry Google at all. First off, they don't care a lick about the schlubs who sell Anderoid phones. Second, where are those partners going to go? It's not like there are profitable alternatives. So when more phone makers exit markets and close up shop, will Apple get blamed for that too? Or will blame go where it belongs(Mountain View) this time?[/quote] It will worry Google more and more as Apple continue to expunge all things Google from iOS. I know it's been debated many times here but I want to see ?Search ASAP. It doesn't have to be perfect as there will be options but over time it would improve and better yet could be better integrated in the eco system. As the default on iOS it would remove a huge revenue stream to Google as most iOS users will use the default most of the time. Apple can buy in a starting position with an engine such as DDG and work on it.