James Delahunty
8 Aug 2009 8:03
According to Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, Apple's iPhone accounted for about 8 percent of the handset industry revenue, but possibly around 32 percent of the industry operating profits, during the first half of 2009. He attributed the success to the "first mover" advantage and compared the iPhone / App Store tie to the very successful iPod / iTunes tie.
"Our analysis indicates that Apple's iPhone accounted for only eight per cent of handset industry revenues but 32 per cent of industry operating profits in the first half 2009," Sacconaghi wrote in a note to clients. "Even if we exclude the operating losses generated by Motorola and Sony Ericsson, Apple still accounted for 25 per cent of industry profits."
Apple is the fifth-place vendor for handsets, hanging in behind the giant Nokia, then Samsung, RIMM and LG. "iPhone's success is akin to Apple's position in the PC industry - where the company enjoys an estimated 25 per cent of industry profits, despite capturing only six per cent of industry revenues."