StatsGuru: Taking stock of the phone launches by Apple & Samsung

Last fortnight, both Apple and Samsung unveiled new devices. As Table 1 shows, the companies still are the two largest players in the smartphone market. As compared to a few years ago, however, Apple has lost ground to Samsung.

1: APPLE & SAMSUNG DOMINATE SMARTPHONE MARKET | Create Infographics

As Table 2 shows, while Apple's revenue growth was spectacular for much of that period, it has slowed, and is close to Samsung's earnings growth now.



It still makes better margins, however, shown in Table 3. But Samsung has done notably better in terms of earnings per share, visible in Table 4.




In related data, as Table 5 shows, Samsung has not shown the explosive growth in stock price that Apple has.



This must be moderated, however, by the fact of Table 6: Looked at in isolation, Samsung seems to have provided more recent returns, as investors sour on Apple's high valuations. It's clear that Apple has some catching up to do. It announced larger "phablet" iPhones last week, entering a market Samsung created and dominated.

6: SAMSUNG HAS GIVEN BETTER RETURNS LATELY | Create Infographics

It needed to; according to IDC, and shown in Table 7, the phablet market will only grow in the coming years, at the expense of the smartphone market.

7: PHABLET MARKET WILL GROW IN COMING YEARS | Create Infographics