Apple Takes 48% Of Mobile Phone Market Profit

Since the first iPhone rolled off the assembly line in 2007, it has been amazing to see how quickly the mobile device took off around the world. Now comes word that Apple itself owns a 48% share of the global mobile phone market in terms of gross profit. This news comes from asymco, which bills itself as an "app production studio and an industry analysis advisory." According to them, Apple far outpaces both Nokia (22%) and RIM (17%), which are number two and three on the list, respectively.

Remember, that prior to 2007, Apple didn't produce a single mobile phone! The biggest loser is Nokia, which controlled 63% of the market three years ago. According to Gigaom, this largely has to do with Nokia's reliance on offering cheaper phones versus Apple. Gigaom states:

The situation appears challenging for those that sell lower-end devices with small profit margins. Nokia being the seller of the most handsets overall is an excellent example, as the bulk of its devices don’t bring large amounts of profits relative to the number of sales. To illustrate, Apple enjoys six times the revenue when compared to the average Nokia device due to the average selling price: $600 for an Apple handsets vs. a sub-$100 average selling price for  Nokia devices. But the big picture isn’t just Apple taking on Nokia. Handset makers embracing Google Android are earning money, while Research In Motion is also faltering. Without additional disruptions from those on the downslope within the next few years, the entire mobile market could look vastly different from that of 2007.

Even with today's weakened global economy, it just shows that cheaper doesn't necessarily sell better. Apple, thanks to the iPhone, is selling more expensive devices and the public is thrilled to buy them in record numbers.

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