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Resistance is futile: Apple mopped up 90% of mobile industry profits in Q2

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Oct 08, 2015, 9:13 AM

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Resistance is futile: Apple mopped up 90% of mobile industry profits in Q2

The cell phone industry is being quickly commoditized, with faster rollouts, lower prices for ever-improving specs, and a panoply of players - from startups to established brands. Save for Apple.

The team from Cupertino currently enjoys the lion's share of mobile industry profits, and we mean lion's share - Bloomberg calculates that Apple is now soaking in more than 90% from the profit pie in the business, followed by Samsung, with the rest left to scramble over a measly percent or two, or lose money outright.

Looking at this ugly picture, it's not hard to fathom why a company like Sony, which just outed the excellent Z5-series trio of smartphones, is contemplating leaving the industry and moving on to greener pastures. In fact, only one in three smartphone sold is Apple or Samsung, but together those two sweep almost every excess dollar that the market can offer.

Kirt McMaster, the CEO of Cyanogen, has the following to comment on the sad state of profit affairs: "[Phones have] gone from being technological devices to fast-moving consumer products. It’s like Coke and Pepsi now. That’s the war these companies are fighting. It’s not a sexy business anymore.”

Well, we are sure Apple still thinks it's a sexy business, though this market saturation and commoditization might mean less willingness to change phones every so often. Perhaps that's why he company is introducing upgrade programs and other tools to ensure you'd always want to get the latest and greatest.

source: Bloomberg

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.