Samsung Leads Apple Inc NASDAQ:AAPL in SmartPhone Sector

By Roger Baettig | November 21 2012 10:17 AM

Reuters

Samsung (LON: BC94) shipped 56.9 million smartphones in the third quarter of 2012, a 35 percent share in the global market and twice Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) shipments over the same period.

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AAPL, UBS

Samsung will ship 61-M SmartPhones in the current Quarter. That is well above forecasts, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the notebook that competes directly with the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad is forecast to ship more units than expected.

The reports says: UBS estimated that Samsung Electronics will sell 61.5-M units of SmartPhones in the October-December period, + 5% from an estimated 58-M in the previous Quarter. The number could reach as high as 63-M depending on the sell-through, or the volume that is actually sold to consumers.

The news means that Samsung has proven its place as the top SmartPhone manufacturing company. But it also means that Apple will increase is legal challenges over Samsung’s patents.

Apple has had success with the actions in the US but was less successful elsewhere. Apple says that its iPad 2 and mini sales have been at record levels. But, as long as it needs to resort to the legal system to keep its market share, the real appeal of its products are in question.

Apple will hold three major product launches in 2013, including the long-awaited Apple Television, a new Retina display iPad mini and MacBook Air, a new, thinner 10in iPad, a new iPhone, iOS 7, Mac OS X 10.9, a new radio service, and more, an analyst has predicted.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors in a note on Tuesday that next year will see bigger changes in Apple’s product lineup.

He said that he expects Apple to launch a television ahead of Christmas in 2013, priced at around $1,500 and $2,000 (which could translate to around £1,000 to £1,300), and will have screen sizes between 42in and 55in.

Shayne HeffernanShayne Heffernan oversees the management of funds for institutions and high net worth individuals.Shayne Heffernan holds a Ph.D. in Economics and brings with him over 25 years of trading experience in Asia and hands on experience in Venture Capital, he has been involved in several start ups that have seen market capitalization over $500m and 1 that reached a peak market cap of $15b. He has managed and overseen start ups in Mining, Shipping, Technology and Financial Services.Read the Terms of Service