The rivalry between Samsung and Apple to be the best and most popular smartphone producer has been going on for years. Every new phone that either company releases, their counterpart will release a similar but slightly better version, going as far as to number their devices the same way to create more competition. In current news, Apple has commemorated their 10th iPhone anniversary by releasing two new phone models in one press release (usually releasing one model at a time). The release of the iPhone X has caused quite a stir among Apple lovers and tech followers and one of their biggest supporters is … Samsung.
According to Brett Williams from Mashable, “Samsung is estimated to earn about $110 for every iPhone X sold, according to analysis conducted by Counterpoint Technology Market Research for the Wall Street Journal. The reason is actually pretty simple: Samsung is the exclusive supplier of the iPhone X's new OLED displays and also provides the phone's memory chips. If the iPhone X ends up being a major hit, it could even be one of Samsung's biggest revenue sources.”
Although Samsung and apple are competitors, Samsung stands to make a fortune from the sales of the iPhone X. They are projected to make roughly $4 billion more in revenue from the iPhone X than from their own sales comprising counterparts and their own phone line. The role that Samsung has as Apple’s chief and sole supplier isn’t rumored to last very long. Rumors have circulated that Apple is trying to outsource to another company or even created their own OLED screens and it makes perfect sense. Apple is spending a lot of money by outsourcing parts of their phone to other companies, if they can figure out a way to do it themselves, they’ll be ahead of the smartphone game and make more profit for themselves.
What this could mean for Samsung?
If Apple is successful in outsourcing their OLED supply to a different supplier or making their own OLED factory, Samsung will be at a big disadvantage. They make a lot of their revenue by supplying components to Apple, like the OLED and microchip found in the iPhone X. If Apple can produce their stuff in-house or find a cheaper supplier, Samsung will have to find a way to make as much as they did when Apple was still one of their clients. There has also been a decline in Android popularity with every release of a new iPhone. Androids won’t disappear completely, but it might happen eventually. The increasing domination of Apple in the smartphone industry has been steady increasing from every new iPhone release. Despite making a profit off of the iPhone X, this isn’t a good sign for Samsung who operates on Android technology. The contract that Samsung has with Apple isn’t supposed to last forever. Apple is slowly gaining more ground and global market share. The smartphone industry might go from being a duopoly between Android and Apple to becoming an Apple monopoly.
Original Sources: Mashable "Every iPhone X sold will bring Samsung a big payday" and Wall Street Journal "Why Apple Rival Samsung Also Wins If iPhone X Is a Hit"
Image Source: Apple