AfterDawn: News

Apple is most profitable handset maker

According to research firm Strategy Analytics, Apple has become the most profitable handset maker in the world, just two years after moving into the smartphone market.

For the Q3 2009, Apple overtook Nokia for most profitable mobile phone maker, making an estimated $1.6 billion in profit for their only phone, the iPhone.



Nokia still remains by far the largest smartphone maker, by volume, but the handset maker makes a much lower margin per phone sold than Apple does. Nokia made $1.1 billion in operating profit for the quarter.

"With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, the PC vendor has successfully broken into the mobile phone market in just two years," added Alex Spektor, an analyst at Strategy Analytics, via Reuters.

For the quarter, Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones with revenue of $4.5 billion, while Nokia sold 108.5 million units for revenue of $10.36 billion.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Nov 2009 14:40

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• 3 comments

• KillerBug

  Another percentage-based statistic that is meaningless.
  
  If I sell one bag of potato chips for $500, would that make me the most profitable potato chip retailer in the world? Of course not...the corner gas station probably makes more than that on potato chip sales every month!

  12.11.2009 05:58 #1

• DVDBack23

  Not percentage based. Apple made $1.6 billion, Nokia made $1.1 billion on double the revenue.

  12.11.2009 11:42 #2

• hermes_vb

  Yep, what it means is that several suckers are willing to pay $500 for bag of potato chips.

  13.11.2009 20:36 #3