Filed under: Apple Financial, iPhone
iPhone leads Apple past Nokia to #1 in mobile phone profits
Apple doesn't make the most mobile phones but, as of the third quarter of 2009, the Cupertino company does make the most money from them. Research firm Strategy Analytics says Apple is now the world's most profitable mobile phone maker, kicking Nokia from the top spot between July and September.Apple's phones only command about 2.5% of the world's cellphone market, though the iPhone's cool factor and the company's premium pricing let it rake in about $1.6 billion in operating profit from the iPhone in the third quarter of 2009, besting cellphone stalwart Nokia and its $1.1 billion in operating profit for the same period.
Alex Spektor, an analyst with Strategy Analytics, says, "With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, the PC vendor has successfully broken into the mobile phone market in just two years."
What did Nokia do wrong? Reverse what Apple did right. Nokia seems to have slipped thanks in part to lower margins from the weak economy and a less-than-stellar presence in the United States, though Spektor thinks there is time to turn the Finnish ship around. He suggests the company focus more on the U.S. and less on traditional 'non-smart' phones, which don't make as much money per unit as the likes of the iPhone or the Blackberry.
While Nokia may not make the most money, at this point it still makes the most handsets. Nokia's worldwide market share for mobile phones sits at 37.9%. At least for now.
[via The Mac Observer, Electronista]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jordan said 7:15PM on 11-11-2009
Well yeah when you make one phone that is probaby the most expensive you would tend to make alot....
Before the retards start in that it only costs 200: That's what it costs you up front. AT&T buys them from Apple at 600/700 a piece.
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Izzy said 7:34PM on 11-11-2009
But all phones in the USA are subsidized not just the iPhone. And there are MANY phones that cost much more than the iPhone (at retail). Nokia used to make cool phones and is doing great with its high end N-series. So its pretty irrelevant that Apple has one phone or fifty, in fact that they have one phone probably saves them a fortune (marketing, packaging, manufacturing, etc etc)
Rob47 said 7:40PM on 11-11-2009
It's what happens to companies that have been at the top for so long. Lower companies out-think, design the top dog and take over. But unless the next iPhone has some better hardware apple will be hard pushed to keep the top spot.
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Jordan said 8:10PM on 11-11-2009
I agree. Apple is used to designing one product and using it forever. The way the iphone is set up now is based all around ONE OS. This is the way the iPod has always been (touch aside). It worked for the ipod because all it did was play music, but this will not work for the iphone and here's why.
Most people who get cell phones get bored with them. They like to move to something different and jump around. Alot of people who own an iPhone right now probably won't get another one. There are the die hard fans who will always own one, but that's to be expected. The iPhone can't evolve too much the way it's set up. Apple is getting tied more and more everyday to the app store and for them to drastically change the hardware would cause immense problems.
If Apple is willing to always re-write and re-invent the OS on the iPhone, it could work. But this won't happen.
Shaun said 7:57PM on 11-11-2009
In the UK, Nokia's smartphones are much more heavily subsidised than the iPhone so even those have less profit margin for Nokia. Apple have US level profit margins in the UK.
Even Nokia N900s cost less here than the iPhone.
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