Apple's record-breaking quarter was driven by the performance of the iPhone 7. In 4Q, sales turned to growth. Smartphone sales surpassed Samsung Electronics' performance by exceeding 78 million units. As a result, the market share of the global smartphone market has risen to the top.
Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7 discontinuance, which is a rival product, has brought back profits to Apple. Samsung Electronics also enjoyed a good night's sleep with the launch of the Galaxy S7 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Apple sold $ 78.35 billion (or 91 trillion won) in sales for the first quarter of this year (October-December last year). It surpassed the market consensus of $ 77.25 billion. Apple pushed the market for the third consecutive quarter of the year, cutting back on growth and saying it was over. "Service sales, Mac and Apple watch sales have surpassed last year," said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Apple's share price has risen about 3% in after-hours trading after the earnings announcement.
Above all, iPhone 7 contributed the most. The iPhone 7 released in September last year was popular in North America, Western Europe and Japan and sold 78.29 million units in the first quarter. The most recent quarterly sales volume was more than the market forecast of 77.42 million units. IPhone sales reached $ 54.4 billion (about 63 trillion won). The figure was 5.4 percent higher than last year's $ 51.6 billion.
In fact, the market for the iPhone 7 was valorous. There was no change other than adding cameras and waterproofing. Huawei, Oppo, and other Chinese companies actively launched the offensive, such as market conditions did not surpass. Nevertheless, Apple's resurgence through the iPhone 7 has been largely attributed to the gap in Galaxy Note 7, its biggest rival.
Appearance is big, but it does not stand out from inside room. Apple's net profit for the first quarter was $ 17.9 billion, down 2.6 percent from the previous quarter.
In the same period, sales of smartphones fell to 77.5 million units, falling to second place. The total sales of mobile phones were 90 million units, but they were pushed out of premium smartphones. Nevertheless, Samsung Electronics' IM division saved 23.61 trillion won in quarterly sales and 2.5 trillion won in operating profit. Compared to the operating profit of W100bn in 3Q09 due to the impact of the recall of the Gallon 7, it was a remarkable growth. At the time, Samsung was evaluated as having successfully released the Galaxy S7 and shattering the Gal7not's 7-discontinuity. This is in line with what US market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA) has said has sold more than 10 million smartphone sales per quarter.
As a result, Samsung and Apple, the strong rivals and leading players in the smartphone market, reemphasized each other. Along with the prospect that the smartphone market is saturated and the growth of Chinese companies is on the horizon, The expectations for their respective smartphone 'Galaxy S8' (tentative name) and 'iPhone 8' (tentative name) are also considerable. After the launch of new products, competition will likely be intense.
However, the outlook for the first quarter of this year is not very bright. Samsung is expected to launch the smartphone Galaxy S8 only in April. With the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, the Galaxy A series, a mid-sized phone, should endure the first quarter. Apple is also expected to release the iPhone 8 (tentative name), a 10th anniversary celebration, in the second half of the year.