Samsung Guns Down Apple To Become World’s Top Smartphone Maker, Plus Samsung Q1 2015 Operating Profits Stand At $5.6B

Apple was reportedly the world's top smartphone maker in the fourth quarter of 2014. However, now, Samsung has apparently taken the mantle from Apple in the first quarter of 2015, with respect to volume. On the other hand, the South Korean tech giant has apparently posted roughly $44 billion in revenues and operating profits of $5.6 billion.

Based on a report from market research company Strategy Analytics, cited by Reuters, the South Korean tech titan Samsung has captured 24 percent market share in the first quarter of 2015. With this number, Samsung has officially overtaken Apple, which settles for a market share of 18 percent. In comparison, Samsung had reportedly amassed 31 percent market share in the same quarter a year ago.

On the other hand, the South Korean tech giant reportedly shipped a total of 83.2 million smartphones worldwide in Q1 2015. In comparison, Apple apparently shipped 61.2 million units. Neil Mawston, Executive Director of Strategy Analytics, reportedly said, "Samsung continued to face challenges in Asia and elsewhere, but its global performance has stabilized sufficiently well this quarter to overtake Apple and recapture first position as the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume.”

Meanwhile, Samsung has published the financial results for Q1 2015. This time around, the company has shown improved profits on a quarter-on-quarter basis even with a drop in sales of 11 percent over Q4 2014, according to GSM Arena. Overall, the Device Solutions (DS) unit, along with IT and Mobile (IM) units have reportedly shown only marginal decrease in sales. The Consumer Electronics (CE) unit, on the other hand, is apparently responsible for 28 percent decrease in sales. The obvious reason for the downfall specific to the CE unit is reportedly because of “weak seasonality” along with the “decreased demand due to exchange rate impact in Europe/emerging markets, as well as by increased material cost.”

Furthermore, the IT and Mobile units have apparently reported improved earnings. But then, decreased shipments of tablets and feature phones have also contributed to the marginal decline in revenue. In the meantime, the smartphone shipments have heightened because of the mid-to-low-end devices. Samsung’s Q1 2015 report says, “Earnings improved QoQ due to decreased marketing expenses and expansion of new mid/low-end smartphones (e.g. A/E/J); Revenue declined slightly QoQ due to decreased shipments of tablet and feature-phones.” Otherwise, the semiconductor unit and Display Panel subsidiary have done well this quarter.

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