Samsung's Mobile Business Is Half the Size of Apple's

Smartphone market leader Samsung is holding its biggest annual launch event today. Just days ahead of the Mobile World Congress, the Korean electronics giant is expected to unveil several new Galaxy products today, including first and foremost its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10. The phone, which the company accidently leaked in a Norwegian TV commercial earlier this week, features a triple-lens back camera, an ultrasonic fingerprint reader built into the screen and reverse wireless charging, i.e. the ability to charge other gadgets wirelessly. Unfortunately for consumers however, the S10 is also expected to continue the trend of rising smartphone prices, with the top model reportedly priced at or even above $1,500.

While Samsung retained its lead in the smartphone market in 2018, the company has found itself in a difficult spot recently. With Chinese vendors grabbing market share in the lower-price segment and Apple remaining the preferred brand of many premium buyers, Samsung is fighting on two fronts, amid challenging market conditions that don’t make things any easier. In 2018, sales of Samsung’s Mobile Communications business, which also includes tablets and wearable devices, declined by 7 percent to 96.65 trillion won ($86.9b), the lowest it has been since 2012. Apple’s iPhone business alone generated $157 billion in sales over the same period, and adding the iPad to the calculation, Apple’s mobile business is now twice as large as Samsung’s.