Apple and Samsung have been each other’s archenemies for quite a while. The constant battle for market dominance continues as all eyes shift on the year 2014. Everyone’s asking the same question over and over again: who will be the market leader for the coming year?

What’s the Global Market Trending?

apple-vs-samsung-300x300Apple with its iPhone has been one of the most sustaining market share holders for a decade or so. Samsung has witnessed a steady rise in their popularity; thanks to their Samsung Galaxy and Note series phones.  Only until the end of the third quarter for this year, Android’s market share surpassed 80% globally with the total sales of 211.6 million devices. Apple is also growing its device volume with a 33.8 million increase in this quarter.  But what seems to be a surprising factor is that finally Samsung and Android phones are able to give iPhone/Apple a run for their money.

The clear winner for third quarter has to be definitely Samsung with the staggering market share and shipment volumes backing their victory. Sorry Apple, it seems you would have to try a little better in the next quarter as your market share for this quarter has only been 12.9%.  Despite such huge variance in statistics, still Apple managed to remain second to Samsung.

It’s not all over for Apple

Who would have thought that Apple can take on Samsung on one of their favorite markets – Japan? According to a latest report by Korea Herald, Samsung’s share in the Japanese market continues to decline four quarters in a row. Unbelievable, isn’t it? But then there is more…

Just the last quarter, Apple sold close to 4 million units in Japan while Samsung managed to sell only 1 million units. Apple currently holds the number one spot in the market, followed by Sony on second spot while Samsung resides on the fourth. This means that currently Apple doesn’t have to bother about Samsung tailing them for reclaiming the crown anytime sooner.

The reason Apple has resurfaced as the top contender in the Japanese market is because of the simultaneous launch of iPhone 5S and 5C. The sharp increase in sales for Apple also contributes to the fact that NTT Docomo, the leading domestic mobile provider has now started offering iPhones to its subscriber base for the very first time. No wonder, the market has opened up for Apple as many curious customers who have been waiting for a long time to get their hands on an iPhone are able to easily purchase the set through the largest mobile provider in Japan along with Softbank and KDDI who are also selling iPhone handsets to their customers.

Good news prevails for Apple as it enjoys 34% of the Japanese smart-phone market – the hub of technology and innovation. One of the major reasons behind Samsung’s loss in the market attributes to the aggressive marketing strategies by Apple. Top it all with some of the other contenders such as Sony and Sharp surfacing to claim their market-share which has also lead to a sharp decline in Samsung’s sales volume for past four quarters.

What’s the new attraction?

Samsung released Note 3 and Galaxy S4 this year while Apple released iPhone5S and 5C. Clearly, there are market pockets which illustrate the dominance of each company over another. In some parts Samsung takes the lead while at other regions Apple dominates. However, what’s interesting to see is the new attraction or the additions in the existing line of smart-phones that are going to be released by Samsung and Apple in the coming year.

Insiders tell about the new iPhone 6 concept design that is going to turn the left side of the handset into a tiny display to give users an instant access to certain settings or apps such as volume controls, flashlight, alarm, calculator, camera and music player controls.  iPhone6 will be based on the iPhone5s model. Again, all these are speculations as Apple has not confirmed anything about the upcoming phone model and one can only wait to see what the future holds for iPhone.

Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to be released next year in the first quarter (somewhere around March/April).  Insiders report that the handset will be slower than the iPhone 5S despite of the fact that a 64-bit processer is going to be available in the handset. It is also heard that Samsung is trying to reduce the overall cost of each handset by moving away from the usual AMOLED panel to a cheaper LCD offering. However, Samsung Galaxy S5 is still expected to the first smart-phone to adopt a 2k resolution.

What’s interesting to see is the response that S5 will receive at its release. For more news on this topic, stay tuned to our blog.

Conclusion:

It seems that fortune has slightly favored Apple over Samsung. As already discussed, globally Samsung has regained valuable market share but yet Apple continues its dominance by capturing some new potential markets such as Japan. However, what is interesting to see is the future of the upcoming Samsung handset releases. That should be the turning point for the company either for the better or the worst. With iPhone6 yet to be planned and launched, it will give Samsung quite some time to build their momentum in the market with the launch of S5 in the first quarter in 2014. For now, the competition between the two giants is keeping everyone on their toes and presents a whole new set of opportunities for mobile development companies and entrepreneurs.

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