According to data from the research firm Strategy Analytics, Apple became during 2009th third quarter "the world's most profitable handset manufacturer". So I launched calc.app to figure out what's their secret.
Apparently Apple made a $1.6 billion profit while Nokia only attained $1.1 billion over this quarter. For comparison, analysts of the Deutsche Bank in 2008 had already announced that in their calculations Apple was taking about 20% of the market's profit while holding 1% of the market shares. At the time Nokia was taking about 55% of the market's profit.
So what does it mean? Basically Apple is putting on incredibly high margins on its products. They receive approximately $550 per iPhone sold, so if Strategy Analytic's numbers are right, $320 of this is pure profit, how do you feel about that ? Here is the famous "Apple Tax".
Furthermore by subsidizing the handset, customers don't even notice the margin. Those are incredible numbers, especially in such an industry. Congrats!
[via MacRumors]
