How the fortunes of two tech giants of smartphones have changed in few months, can be gauged from the true facts reported today by two reputed news agencies of the world. (AFP and the Reuters)
Samsung has announced that global sales of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones had topped 100 million since the first model debuted in 2010, cementing its dominant position over US rival Apple. The original Galaxy S phone, launched in June 2010, sold 25 million units. The Galaxy S II, launched in April 2011, crossed sales of more than 40 million, and the S III has reached the same volume since coming on the market in May last year.
For Samsung, 2012 was a watershed year that saw it take a giant bite out of Apple as it carved out a dominant position in the global mobile computing market, added AFP.
While Samsung is rejoicing over its overwhelming success of its Galaxy range of smartphones, Apple on the contrary has seen downturn to its iPhone 5 devices. As reported by Reuters citing the Japanese financial daily the Nikkei that Apple Inc has almost halved its order with suppliers of LCD panels for the iPhone 5 in the current quarter due to weak demand.
Apple has asked suppliers Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp and South Korean company LG Display Co Ltd, to cut supply, down from an initial plan to order about 65 million units in the quarter.
Japan Display’s plant in Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture, where the iPhone maker has invested heavily, is expected to temporarily reduce output by 70 percent to 80 percent compared to the October to December period, the financial daily reported. Sharp’s dedicated facility for iPhone 5 LCD panels in Mie Prefecture will lower production in January and February by about 40 percent from the October to December quarter, when it was near full capacity, the daily said.
The main reason for decreasing sale of iPhone 5 is that unlike Samsung, Apple has not widened its portfolio of iPhones. Samsung has come out with Galaxy S II Plus, Galaxy S III Mini and from time to time has widened its portfolio of Galaxy range to fit in with all types of budget On the contrary, Apple’s iPhones does not have variety of models and all its flagship devices are very expensive and hence its sales in emerging markets like India is negligible compared to Samsung’ s devices.
For Apple the year 2013 will be very challenging and unless it changes its policy of sticking with only one device at a time, it will be difficult for them to keep pace with its previous figures. Apple will have to widen its portfolio, come out with economical and stripped down versions of iPhone 5 to take on with aggressive competition especially from Samsung and upcoming competition from LG and Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei etc, which have showcased their latest smartphones in just concluded CES.
