So, have Samsung come up against an insurmountable problem? We all know in mobile, that the Apple/iOS market is where the money is. We also know that Android has far, far more devices out in the world. There have been many calculations conducted over the last few years about expected return on investment across the various platforms with some recent numbers showing finances from the iOS space continuing to grow faster than that of Android and indeed pulling in more than double the revenue despite, according to some sources, having less than half the market share in device numbers.
It's a bit of a cheeky generalization but it is said Android users do not like spending money. Apple users may not like spending money but they do spend it. And this is where Samsung may be getting into a bit of a pickle. The Korean device manufacturer has many competitors, a large chunk of whom are very much at the budget end in terms of consumer price. So, if you're core target market doesn’t like parting with cash then these competitors can become a great danger and maybe, having seen some recent Samsung financials and news, this danger is closer than was first thought.
The second-quarter figures were out this week and showed a 24% fall in profits. Some investors were reported as saying they were a bit sick of hearing the “same old, same old” as the company rolled out a number of "reasons" in an attempt to placate the shareholders worries. The list included rise of the Korean won, over-delivery of smartphones in China and Europe, losing out to increased competition at the budget end of the market and, in China in particular, consumers are saving up for the arrival of their 4G service thus making the 3G products about as popular as a Yellow Pages salesman.
So the next period in Samsung's mobile life could be an interesting time as they battle for a market which sits firmly between the very well monetized iOS sector and the low, or at least lower, cost Android space. In fact, some commentators have questioned as to whether the market that Samsung appears to be chasing now, will even exist in a truly commercial sense over the next period of time.
Certainly most of the consumer app work we do here at Bawtree Software is aimed primarily at the iOS space because, as we all know, this is the sector the money’s in. Generally speaking our customers only go into Android apps as a later version of a successful iOS product or if there are compelling statistical reasons about their users.
Time will tell if Samsung can crack what is become known as the middle ground and I'm sure at the end of each coming quarter both Apple and Samsung will announce their own results in their very own style.
Here’s looking forward to the next round…