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Apple had 57% of mobile profits in Q1, Samsung 43%

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
May 7, 2013, 6:41 PM ET

FORTUNE — To simplify the chart at right — drawn from data sent to clients Tuesday by Canaccord Genuity’s T. Michael Walkley — I’ve left out Nokia (NOK), Research in Motion (BBRY), Motorola (GOOG), Sony (SNE), LG and HTC.

That’s because between them, Apple (AAPL) and Samsung shared virtually all the profits made selling mobile phones — smart and not-so-smart — over the past year and a quarter.

With the exception of BlackBerry (which turned a small profit one quarter) and HTC (three quarters), all the other major players in the game either broke even or lost money. (Those losses explain why in several quarters Apple’s and Samsung’s shares added up to more than 100%.)

Apple continues to collect far more of the industry’s profits than its market share (8% in 2012, by Canaccord’s estimate) would suggest. But according to Walkley, its run of taking the lion’s share of those profits may soon come to an end.

“During the June quarter,” he writes, “we believe softer iPhone sales combined with Samsung Galaxy S4’s global ramp should result in Samsung surpassing Apple for the top share of handset industry profits.”

Below: Canaccord’s income and profit spreadsheet.



About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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