When you hear about declining iPhone sales and factoids like Huawei overtaking Apple as the world’s second biggest smartphone maker, it’s easy to lose sight of just how successful Apple is at selling phones.
A new report from Counterpoint Research is a reminder just what a profit-generating powerhouse the iPhone actually is. In Q3 2019, Apple captured a whopping 66% of industry profits. Second place winner Samsung, by comparison, pulled in just 17% of handset profits.
2018 was the year in which Apple became the first public company in history to reach a valuation of $1 trillion. Many articles and listicles have listed Apple as the world’s most profitable company at various points in its existence.
But is it? Based on the last year, the answer is no. Not even close. In 2018, Apple’s $59.53 billion in net income was dwarfed by the $111 billion made by state-run Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco.
Facebook lost more value today than any other company in history: $120 billion. The massive selloff came after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the growing privacy concerns of the public, and the likely response of lawmakers and regulators, will hit the company where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
On the same day Facebook lost 19 percent of its value, Apple’s share price was unaffected. This is because the two companies have diametrically opposing views on the privacy rights of the public. What hurt Facebook so much is actually one of Apple’s strengths.
A few months ago, Apple surprised everyone by announcing its latest smartphone was a huge hit, resulting in better than expected earnings and a big jump in company shares. That didn’t happen to Samsung.
Instead, the Korean company missed analysts’ profit expectations, partially because of sluggish demand for the Galaxy S9.
According to new research from Counterpoint, Apple took home a massive 86 percent of total handset market profits for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Most impressive of all is the fact that the iPhone X, which was slammed as being too expensive, earned 5x the combined profits of more than 600 Android device makers. Maybe that $1,000 price tag wasn’t such a mistake after all!
Apple earnings calls are usually a time for celebration and gloating, but for the first time in over a decade the company is poised to post declining profits.
Tim Cook warned Wall Street that this would likely happen due to declining iPhone sales. Have we really reached “peak iPhone”?
Analysts and reporters will be grilling Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri during today’s Q2 2016 earnings call. Investors will be looking for signs that Apple still has room to grow. And Cult of Mac will be right here, liveblogging the entire Apple earnings call — and translating the financial gibberish — when the big event starts at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Get in on the action below:
Wall Street seemingly loves to be down on Apple, but if you want some figures to remind you of what a massive profit-generating giant the company is, look no further than the latest numbers collected by SiliconValley.com.
Analyzing the stats coming out of the top 150 Bay Area tech companies for 2015, Apple not only ranked number one in every important metric, but also recorded profits of $53.7 billion in 2015 — which translates to roughly 40 percent of the entire $133 billion Silicon Valley profit pool for the year.
And that’s not all.
Anyone wanting an illustration of why smartphone unit sales are not the single most important metric for judging success should check out wealth management company Canaccord Genuity’s findings about Apple’s iPhone sales versus profits.
According to Canaccord Genuity, despite selling less than 20 percent of all smartphones, Apple rakes in a massive 92 percent of operating income. Samsung, by contrast, ekes out just 15 percent to take second place. Everyone else basically broke even or lost money.
The smartphone wars are two company race and it’s not even close.
Apple and Samsung are dominating the competition so badly that a new report from Canaccord Genuity claims the two tech giants account for 106% of global smartphone profits.
Take a look at this chart:
Everyone knows Apple is incredibly profitable, but did you know that the top-earning tech company brings in more money than Hewlett-Packard, Google, Intel and Cisco combined?
That’s according to the San Jose Mercury News’ newly published Silicon Valley 150 list, which ranks 75 tech companies using data from Bloomberg and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
