220 million Apple iPhones have been sold in the same time that Samsung has placed 100 million Galaxy S handsets. While that may seem like a daunting lead for Apple over the South Korean smartphone manufacturer, Samsung is without a doubt peaking as Apple popularity slides. The Cupertino-based consumer electronics manufacturer just last week cut orders nearly in half for many of the parts needed to make their iPhone 5, amid an unexpected and lengthy downturn in sales. Alternately, the popularity of the Galaxy S III is on the rise, and has helped push the global numbers of all Galaxy S phones over the current 100 million unit mark.
The original Galaxy S smartphone got the Galaxy ball rolling for Samsung, launching in June 2010 and selling some 24 million pieces to date. You may recall the Galaxy S II launched in April of 2011, and they have moved more than 40 million units since then. But easily the fastest selling device in that Galaxy lineup is the Galaxy S III 4G Android smartphone. Launched last May that handset achieved 20 million global sales in its first 100 days, and recently flew past the 40 million unit mark. Samsung overtook Nokia for the first time in 14 years to rank as the top phone manufacturer of 2012, and that is thanks in large part to the Galaxy S III smartphone.
To question the popularity of Apple products would be silly to say the least, but there are several areas where the Galaxy S III dominates the smaller iPhone 5. The Galaxy S III pixel density runs 306 pixels per inch, while the iPhone 5 wins this battle at 326 pixels located over every inch of display space. But the Galaxy S III has a larger 4.80 inch display, compared to the iPhone 5′s smaller 4.0 inch screen, and in overall resolution the GS III wins again, at 720 x 1,280 pixels versus 640 x 1,136 pixels for the iPhone 5. And that display on the Galaxy S III is protected by a layer of scratch resistant Gorilla Glass, whereas the iPhone 5 contains no such protective offering.
Much of the downtrend in popularity with the iPhone 5 currently has to do with talk time and the new iOS 6 operating system. There have been complaints about both, and with the Galaxy S III offering up to 15.0 hours of talk time from a single charge versus roughly 8.0 hours from the iPhone 5, portability lovers have a clear decision to make. The GS III also offers 32 GB of built-in storage versus 16 for Apple’s iPhone 5, as well as 2.0 GB of RAM memory verses 1.0 GB RAM.
But today’s smartphone lovers also like cool features as well as powerful computer specs and performance, and the NFC support that the Galaxy III offers is not found on the Apple iPhone 5. That wireless connectivity option supports multiple applications which are attractive to the current smartphone shopper. One of the most popular applications that the Samsung Galaxy S III provides is the Android S Beam wireless data transfer app seen in multiple Galaxy S III commercials. While we’re not predicting the death of Apple anytime soon, or of its popular iPhone lineup, it is clear that Samsung is making life difficult for Apple, and smartphone shoppers are choosing features and performance above brand name loyalty.
January 17, 2013 at 9:13 am
Err, Apple selling 220 million iPhones in the same time as Samsung sold only 100 million Galaxy smartphones makes Samsung tops while this constitutes a flop for Apple?! What planet are you on?!!
A single dubious report of a cut in parts orders does not constitute an argument that the iPhone 5 is a flop considering the vast amount of other evidence that the iPhone 5 is a gargantuan success.
This includes the fact that in a single week of sales at the end of Q3 2012, the iPhone 5 captured 27% of the entire worldwide 4G LTE subscriber base according to Strategy Analytics despite Android LTE smartphones being available for an entire year.
Then there is the 5 million iPhones sold in the launch weekend over 5 countries and 2 million sold over the launch weekend in China. Then there are the analyst’s estimates of an enormous 55 million iPhones being sold in Q3 2012 and Kantar’s report that the iPhone captured a massive 53% of smartphone sales in the USA up to the end of Nov.
ChangeWave’s report of 50% of smartphone buyers in the USA planning to buy iPhones versus only 20% planning to buy Samsung devices is yet another data point demonstrating how ludicrous your article is.
It is amazing just how blatant the campaign to smear Apple is around the globe. Looks like there are a huge number of people jealous of Apple’s success. Very sad.