There are now 900 million Android devices in the world, compared to around 500 million iOS devices, but which is generating the most engagement (and cash)? New data indicates that Apple still leads the way, but Android is catching fast in terms of downloads and revenue.
At last week’s Google I/O developer conference, the internet giant said it expects over 900 million Android devices to be activated in 2013, an increase over the 400 million activated last year.
The company also announced that over 48 billion apps have been downloaded from the Play Store (2 billion fewer than have been downloaded from Apple’s App Store).
The result doesn’t take into account paid vs. free apps, or how much revenue each makes from ads and other sources.
App revenues- Apple vs. Android
According to figures out from Strategy Analytics, Apple continues to lead both as the single-most profitable smartphone maker, and the most profitable platform, taking 57% of $12.5 billion in smartphone operating profits in Q1. By contract Android took 43%, equating to $5.3 billion.
Android market- Samsung dominates
Within the Android portion of smartphone profits, Samsung is taking a growing share, with Strategy Analytics believing that Samsung now ‘generates more revenue and profit from the Android platform than Google does’.
The South Korean electronics giant made $5.1 billion in operating profit in Q1 2013, working out to 95% of all Android revenues, and 40.8% of all smartphone operating profits overall.
Strategy Analytics estimates the global Android smartphone industry generated total operating profits of US$5.3 billion during Q1 2013. The Android platform accounted for 43 percent share of the entire smartphone industry’s operating profits, which reached US$12.5 billion worldwide in the first quarter of this year.
Strategy Analytics estimates that Samsung’s Android smartphone shipments generated US$5.1 billion of operating profit worldwide in Q1 2013.
Samsung captured a huge 95 percent share of all Android smartphone industry profits. An efficient supply chain, sleek products and crisp marketing have been among the main drivers of Samsung’s impressive profitability.
LG followed in second place and took 3 percent global profit share. LG delivered a small profit during the quarter, but it currently lacks the volume scale needed to match Samsung’s outsized profits.
Meanwhile other platforms (like Nokia and BlackBerry) collective profits totalled just $300 million for the quarter, working out to a 2.2% share of profits.
Samsung has strong market power and it may use this position to influence the future direction of the Android ecosystem. For example, Samsung could request first or exclusive updates of new software from Android before rival hardware vendors.
Global Android Smartphone Profit Share in Q1 2013
Source: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/
