Asymco: Samsung mobile makes more money than Google in total
updated 07:20 pm EST, Wed November 14, 2012
Samsung's smartphone profit outstrips Android creator's revenue
Samsung's ongoing successes in the smartphone sector have brought the South Korean conglomerate more in earnings than the entirety of the company that makes the Android operating system powering most of Samsung's devices. This according to a new study out from market analysis firm Asymco, which sees income from Samsung's mobile division outstripping the entirety of Google's operating income over the past three quarters. The finding is all the more striking given that, two years ago, Samsung's income from smartphone sales was virtually nil.
The most recent quarter brought further news of record-breaking performance on the part of Samsung, as the company brought in $7.4 billion in profit. That figure was due in large part to Samsung's mobile sales, thought to be around 58 million units for the quarter, with the Galaxy S III accounting for between 18 and 20 million of that total. It was the fourth consecutive quarter of record profit for the company.
Asymco estimates Samsung's mobile division's income total at about $5 billion for the past quarter. By comparison, Google's entire business operations recorded $3 billion in profit for the third quarter.
Asymco's analysis points out that, two years ago, Samsung's mobile income included virtually nothing from the smartphone sector. Shortly following the launch of its first Galaxy line of smartphones, though, profits at the South Korean manufacturer's mobile division took off, growing from less than $1.5 billion to the $5 billion mark in the space of two years. In the first quarter of 2011, only three percent of the phones Samsung sold were smartphones; by the last quarter, that figure had grown to 54 percent.
