1. Apple | [It] continued to command lion’s share of mobile handset industry’s profits, capturing almost 60% share. However, the company’s profit is down from 86% in the same quarter last year when Samsung had to gulp up a loss due to the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. According to Counterpoint’s research director, Neil Shah, Apple still generates more than $150 profit per iPhone sold and this will continue to grow into the holiday season quarter, buoyed by the high-price iPhone X series. |
2. Samsung | [It] made a strong come back in the third quarter of this year with its Note 8 series, while Galaxy S8 series too continued to perform on par. The profit share reached 26% as compared to its loss during the third quarter of 2016 due to Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall. The South Korean company, courtesy relatively stronger demand for Note 8 and mid-tier J series smartphones, have been able to capture almost a fourth of the global mobile handset industry profits. |
3. Huawei | [It] witnessed highest profit growth of 67% YoY in Q3 2017 due to its portfolio expansion across price bands. Huawei’s smartphone ASP grew by 6% YoY driven by its Mate and P series. The company’s per unit profit is $15. |
4. Oppo | [It] captured the fourth spot in global handset profit share, mainly driven by its performance in China. Oppo’s per unit profit is $14. |
5. Vivo | The company too owes its position to the strong performance in China. Vivo’s per unit profit is $13. |
6. Xiaomi | While Xiaomi has made a strong comeback with handset profit growth of 41% YoY, it is still behind the market leaders. For Xiaomi, offline distribution is the key to reaching Oppo or Huawei’s scale, but most of Xiaomi’s sales are still skewed towards lower-end models. Xiaomi needs premium flagship like Mi Mix 2 or Mi 6 series to scale and drive higher profits to offset the offline expansion costs. Xiaomi’s per unit profit is lower ($2) as it plays on very thin margins. |