Apple takes home 77 per cent of mobile industry’s profits

Research from analyst company Raymond James suggests Apple swallowed 77 per cent of the mobile industry’s profits in the second quarter of 2012.

According to the research, Apple accounted for 77 per cent of all profits generated by the mobile industry in Q2 2012 while also accounting for 43 per cent of its total revenues.

Apple sold 26 million iPhone devices in Q2, no way near the 50 million shifted by Samsung. But while Samsung is way out in front in sales, the company still lags behind Apple where it matters most: profits.

Put simply, Apple devices accounted for six per cent of total mobile shipments in Q2 2012, yet the company still managed to secure upwards of 43 per cent of the industry’s total revenue – with just six per cent of the devices.

That means Samsung is outselling the iPhone 2-to-1 yet still can’t generate more cash than Apple from its products. Another way to look at it would be to say that Apple has a rock-solid business model, based around iTunes and its App Store, and Samsung does not, relying on Google for the vast majority of its content.

This is the reason why many big manufacturers – BlackBerry, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and Microsoft – are all attempting to cultivate their own bespoke music and media services. That’s where the cash really is once you get consumers using your hardware.

Case in point: Apple is projected to make $13 billion from iTunes in 2013, according to Global Equities Research.

‘Ultimately, profits are the feedstock of innovation; and, innovation drives profits,’ said Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt.

He added: ‘until Samsung starts generating more profits than Apple, we would not be overly concerned with who has the unit share lead. Remember, HP and Dell still sell a lot more PCs than Apple sells Macs, but does it matter?’