News: Juniper Research dishes up more good news for Samsung

Hot on the heels of recent revelations that Samsung had increased its sales lead in the second quarter of this year, a new report from mobile analyst firm Juniper Research has dished up more good news for the Korean manufacturer, stating that strong sales of its new Galaxy S3 had helped extend its lead over Apple in the smartphone market.

The research company elaborated that, according to its estimates, Samsung had shipped 52.1 million smartphones, more than double the 26 million shipped by its leading rival, Apple.

It further noted that the Korean company has also doubled its lead over Apple quarter-on-quarter, thanks to a key role played by its flagship Galaxy S3 and its sales of 10 million of the devices in June.

However, it warned that the Apple empire was poised to strike back, noting that the anticipated next iPhone would undoubtedly help Apple narrow the gap.

Secrets of success

According to Juniper Research, Samsung’s success can be attributed to the fact that Samsung had “leveraged its global brand strength and the popularity of the Android OS to drive sales of smartphones in all price tiers.”

The company noted some of the struggles encountered by other manufacturers, commenting that RIM (Research in Motion), which shipped 7.4 million smartphones in Q2, continued to struggle to cope with the transition to the touch-screen era and an OS which lacked the user base to attract developers.

A little less beleaguered was Nokia, which shipped 10.2 million units in the same time period, but which the research company believed was yet to show any clear indication it was benefitting from the switch to Windows Phone 7 OS, even as its hope were riding on Windows Phone 8.

Dark horses

Meanwhile, the company had less than promising remarks for Samsung’s Android competitors. The report elaborated that, with the resources needed to compete with Samsung’s marketing push halted, HTC’s early promise seemed stymied, despite that company shipping 11.6 million smartphones in Q2.

It accused Motorola Mobility of being distracted by the Google acquisition, and lacking a strong presence in Western Europe.

However, the dark horse in the smartphone race may very well be Sony. According to Daniel Ashdown, a research analyst at Juniper Research, Sony has the strongest potential, thanks to its global name (much like Samsung), while he pointed out that the Xperia brand was well established.

As to Samsung’s most immediate competitor, Apple, Juniper Research pointed out that, while the iPhone 4S added a new killer feature, Siri, the next iPhone will need something of a similar magnitude. This becomes even more essential if the device retains the 3.5" display size, which is now dwarfed by the Galaxy S3 (4.8") and other high-end smartphones.

To the point

There is good news for all the manufacturers though, as the report indicated that the smartphone market continued to go from strength-to-strength. The analyst firm estimated that 132.9 million smartphones shipped in Q2 2012 – up from 105.2 million a year ago.

While their individual fortunes may vary, with some racing ahead and others falling behind, smartphones in general appear to be alive and well, which in itself is no mean feat considering the recent influx of tablets in varying shapes, sizes and coming from multiple manufacturers.

Juniper Research dishes up more good news for Samsung

Related Articles

Most Read Articles

Have Your Say