Is Samsung Really Winning? iPhone Sells 88 Million More Than Galaxy S, Galaxy Note

(7:32 am PDT, Jan 18th)

iPhone-4S-with-Galaxy-S-III

If you believe recent reports and predictions from analysts, Apple must make its iPhone cheaper or introduce a low-cost model if it wants to compete with Samsung going forward. The Korean company currently boasts the largest smartphone market share in the United States, and its lead is expected to increase throughout 2013. But did you know that Apple has actually sold more devices? 88 million more, in fact.

Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt has been comparing Apple’s cumulative smartphone sales with Samsung’s, and it appears the Cupertino company’s iPhone outsold the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines 219 million to 131 million.

Those figures include the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and the iPhone 5, versus the five devices in the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note families.

“Although undoubtedly Samsung’s Galaxy lineup has been tremendously successful, given the sudden negative sentiment related to iPhone, we thought it would be interesting to compare Galaxy sales vs. iPhone sales over the last two and a half years,” McCourt said in a research note this week.

Samsung has enjoyed incredible success with its Android smartphones in recent years, largely due to its flagship Galaxy S lineup. Earlier this week, it was revealed the family of devices had now surpassed 100 million unit sales, with the Galaxy S III accounting for 40 million of those. The Korean company’s Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II devices have also sold well.

Samsung has also seen its market share rise thanks to its large product portfolio, which caters to all sections of the market. As noted by CNET, however, not all of Samsung’s devices are “profitable or noteworthy.”

Meanwhile, Apple has seen its share price slide following speculation that demand for the iPhone 5 is weaker than expected. Some have been calling for a low-cost iPhone that will allow Apple to compete with Samsung and others in China and other emerging markets, but whether that will actually happen is a mystery at this point.

As McCourt’s figures show, however, there’s no need for Apple to panic. Its iPhone is still selling exceptionally well, and it, along with Samsung, are the only two smartphone vendors in the U.S. currently seeing any growth. Incidentally, it’s actually Apple’s share that’s growing faster than Samsung’s.

Samsung’s lead could be boosted in the coming months, however, with the launch of the Galaxy S IV. The company’s next-generation flagship is likely to appear in May, four months before the iPhone is due for its annual refresh.

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  • http://www.mygossip565.com/ Jason

    iPhone is a 6 year old phone so of course they have sold more. The Samsung Galaxy line is about 3 years old and by the looks of it will outsell apple by the end of this year. So yes Samsung is Wining!!!!!!

    • the Ugly Truth

      …lets cheat for answers then…

      how many lines does Sammy sell?

    • Adrayven

      Funny how you just completely ignored the fact he was comparing the same number of years between the 2.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tao-Jones/100001257981119 Tao Jones

    jason take the time to read the actual article he only counted the time that both companies were selling phones ignoring the 3 and 3g sales

    Plus apple counts actual sales while samsung counts them sold when they get delivered to vendors not customers . so 200 phones to an att store is 200 instant sales even if the store is giving customers 3 phones for the price of one (i have seen deals as high as 4 phones for 1 ) apples sales are to people actually buying the phone

    the idea that apple should give away primer devices just to gain market share when it already has 75% of the profit share for the whole market would be real stupid

    think for a moment how many phone makers are splitting up that leftover 25% of the money made selling phones and you get a lot of dogs chasing their tails instead of chowing down the meat which is apples lions share and where my money is invested

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tao-Jones/100001257981119 Tao Jones

    also your analogy of the 6 year old phone does not hold water . apple invented the form of the modern phone that works . you want the company that makes tires to come out with square ones because the round design is 5000 years old ? you invent radials and refine the idea not change for changes sake in design we call that sort of change superfluous and its how you add useless bells and whistles to get a product like windows bloat ware

  • http://www.facebook.com/hank.carver Hank Carver

    However all those years that the iPhone was being sold do count for something, brand loyalty. You can’t discount those extra years when the iPhone was basically “the” smartphone to have in how many phones Apple sells.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steffen-Jobbs/100001574843303 Steffen Jobbs

    Since Samsung would have to sell nearly twice as many Galaxy S series smartphones as the iPhone in order to make the profit Apple receives from the sale of one iPhone. Especially if very many of the iPhones sold are of the 64GB variety. Besides even an idiot would realize as long as Samsung keeps dumping their low-end Galaxy S models on the public at reduced prices, Samsung should easily catch up in outright sales over the iPhone. It’s called lowering prices to achieve market share. It’s done all the time by certain companies to cater to the financially strapped. That’s why more people buy Toyotas than BMWs.

    Wall Street is so desperate to break Apple’s financial hold on the smartphone market, they’ll bend numbers anyway they can to undermine Apple. Wall Street is controlled by liars and greedy manipulators. That’s what make hedge funds profitable. Even so, Apple isn’t going out of business overnight with a cash hoard close to $130 billion. That amount gives Apple a lot of wiggle room to make decisions. Apple’s wealth depends on consumers willing to spend good money to get a good product. Wall Street may have some influence over that but only over those who read articles steeped in distortion and speculation.

    • casinrm

      The Galaxy S is Samsung’s former high end handset. Apple probably makes reduced margins on the 3GS too. The S3 probably sells for a similar margin as the iPhone 5. You have to compare like for like.

  • slik101

    I dont see why so many of you use the argument apple makes more money per device than other companies as a pro. Thats very good for apple and congratulations. But tell me, how is that good for the consumer? Dont you think they could pass on some of the savings onto us? All this really means is that they are raping your pockets and you brag about it like its something great lol.

    • Scott Townsend

      It’s not rape if the act is consensual. Last time I checked, no one was putting a gun to your head to buy an Apple product.

  • casinrm

    Is this really cult of Android or some Apple website pretending to be an android website? All the posters here seem to be Apple fans too.

About the author

Killian BellKillian Bell is a freelance writer based in the UK. He has an interest in all things tech and also writes for TechnoBuffalo. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell, or through his website.

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