Samsung has another victory over Apple outside of phone shipments: it has topped Apple in 2019 smartphone processor market share.
Samsung tops Apple in 2019 smartphone processor market share
The South Korean Android giant slid past Apple with a 14.1% processor market share and took third place. Apple, in contrast, had a 13.1% processor market share. Rounding out Counterpoint Research’s top five SoC brands are Qualcomm (Snapdragon), MediaTek (Helio), and Huawei (Kirin). Apple (A series) slid 0.5% from 2018 to 13.1% in fourth place.
Of the top 5 SoC brands, only Samsung (Exynos) and Huawei (Kirin) grew in market share in 2019.
The Korea Herald says that Samsung’s processor growth comes from sales increases in India and the United States.
Exynos sales demonstrate Samsung mobile prowess
Samsung’s third-place finish in processor share for 2019 adds to Samsung’s crown in annual phone shipments. The Korean giant ships around 300 million smartphones annually. It holds this title for the last few years on end without much competition. While Apple can gloat of a few quarters where it outsells Samsung, Samsung still takes the annual crown in smartphone shipments each year.
In years past, Samsung has used its Exynos SoCs in smartphones in Europe and Korea, while relying on Qualcomm for its Snapdragon SoCs in the United States and China. Of course, overheating Snapdragon 810 processor in 2015, Samsung went with its own Exynos SoC in American Galaxy S6,Galaxy S6 edge, and Galaxy Note 5 models that year. Additionally, Qualcomm turned to Samsung to save the Snapdragon brand with the 810’s successor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820.
Exynos brings in profit in declining smartphone market
Samsung’s Exynos SoC brand demonstrates the company’s prowess in the mobile space, but it also serves to bring Samsung greater profit. Mobile OEMs, like all other companies, look to make more money from their products. If they can manufacture a new component, they can keep more of the profit for themselves. Samsung’s decision to craft its Exynos SoCs also benefits the company’s bottom line. This is important in an age where phone buyers are keeping their phones longer than before.
In light of the current coronavirus crisis, with unemployment and financial distress, fewer phones are leaving store shelves. If Samsung cannot make money from new Galaxy phone sales, it can sell its SoCs to other companies and charge fees to purchase them. This will still help Samsung make money in an economy where so many mobile companies are declining in profit.
Samsung uses its Exynos SoCs in everything from mid-level to premium smartphones. Along with its processors, Samsung makes its own ISOCELL camera sensors, RAM chips, phone antennas, AMOLED panels, batteries, and phone accessories.