Samsung introduced 10 times as many phones as Apple last year, but its mobile division made half as much revenue

February 28, 2017

Samsung introduced 10 times as many phones as Apple last year, but its mobile division made half as much revenue

March 29 will be a big day for Samsung. After announcing an upcoming “Galaxy Unpacked” event at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona this week, the Korean tech giant is all-but-guaranteed to launch its next major flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, on that date.

Given the spectacular failure of Samsung’s last flagship, the now-defunct Galaxy Note 7, the company will pin higher-than-usual hopes on its next hero device to rebuild trust, make up for lost profits, and give it a worthy competitor to Apple, which is expected to unveil a significantly redesigned iPhone model in the fall.

Along those lines, it’s worth noting that Samsung’s mobile division has fallen well behind its chief rival in recent years. This chart from Statista tells the story: While the two are neck-and-neck when it comes to overall unit sales, Apple now makes roughly twice as much revenue from mobile devices. This is despite the fact that Samsung sold more than 30 different phones in 2016, whereas Apple sold just three.

A must-have high-end Galaxy S8 may not reduce the deficit completely, but it would go some way toward erasing Apple’s position as the only company making real profits off smartphones.

apple vs samsung revenue chart