Quite an amazing statistic (if it’s true):

Apple and Samsung combined account for 98 per cent of mobile industry profits, according to research from analyst firms Asymco and VisionMobile. Perhaps not surprisingly, Samsung is catching up with Apple in terms of profits by copying its playbook, as VisionMobile analyst Stijn Schuermans notes:

The only handset maker apart from Apple who has built such a unique value chain today is Samsung. The electronics giant not only assembles handsets, but also makes a lot of the most expensive components, notably screens and chipsets. This allows the company to capture profits across the value chain, where its competitors can only capture the value of assembly.

From: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/13/open_and_shut/

one thing i am curious about, how much money do samsung make selling apple components to go in the iPhone.

I have heard that only apple and samsung are making money, and there are questions about who might control android soon, Google or Samsung.

Android is open source, theoretically nobody controls it….even Amazon used a heavily skinned version for the Kindle Fire tablet….however coming from Google’s developers the new versions obviously originate there.

Samsung going onwards with their own OS is something being talked about on the tech sites at the moment, then Samsung would have control of the hardware and software….its rumoured as being one of the reasons that Google bought Motorola, so they could also do a complete phone from hardware to software if one of their large partners (Samsung) went in another direction.

The problem any new OS has is building up an App market.

Windows are making some (slow) progress but the two busy markets are Google Play and Apple’s App Store….RIM with their new Blackberry launch later this month and will also have to fight an uphill battle….is there enough of a market to support a Windows OS, Blackberry OS, Android OS, iOS and potentially a new OS from Samsung?

So many scattered OS’s would make changing phones a nightmare, i like being able to change from an HTC to a Samsung to a Sony and just putting my Gmail details on the phone and having all my data sync from Google’s servers….if each manufacturer goes off with their own OS then you are effectively locked into their eco system, any Apps bought cant be transferred to a different brand phone if you feel like sampling something else….in that respect Android being shared with Huawei, LG, Samsung, HTC, Sony, Acer, Asus etc etc is genius from a consumer’s point of view.

Yep up until the most recent of the Apple vs Samsung spats samsung made the juicy bits of the I everythings.

Google owning motorola should see them pushing the android flag shortly but like everything in that industry it will be cyclical with one of the key players doing a Nokia sooner or later.

Bizarrely Nokia rallied in the last quarter of 2012, they posted figures that surprised everybody in the industry!
I hope they survive, before smartphones they made the best handsets bar none, hassle free, monster battery life, reliable etc

up till 08 nokia had most of the top 5 selling handsets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_mobile_phones
It will turn around and change, there will be phones by people that will make the current crop look as dated as this

Considering most people back in 2000 would be miles off track predicting what we have today i’m ready for some surprises in the next 5-10 years.

I have one of the new Nokia Lumia 820 phones.
So far i wouldn’t go back to Android as i find the Windows OS so much more intuitive and easy to use. Nokia have attempted to plug the gap in the app market by havign their own app store but then again, i found 99% of Android apps to be pointless gubbins.

The battery life of the Lumia is astounding for a smartphone, at the end of the working day i still have around 60% power left although as i actually work rather than sitting on my arse pratting around on STW that may be why! 😛

(currently at home eating breakfast)