The "Profit share of the smartphone market" graph really sums up the current state of Apple/iOS vs. Samsung/Android in recent months. Samsung is eating away a big chunk of Apple's _profits_. If they don't address the 2 main issues (imho, people are voting with their money for bigger screens and different/more exciting OS UX), iphone's market share is going to go under 20% soon. Both are tough issues to crack. Are they going to come out with a 4.5 - 5" screen to address that market? How? Double retina? For different OS UX, it always carries risk of alienating current user base. Really curious if and how they address these issues.
I think 'eating' into may be mischaracterizing things. A decrease in Apple's profit share when total profits are increasing doesn't necessarily mean Samsung is taking anything away from Apple.
It's entirely likely that Samsung is simply dominating the formerly-fractured not-Apple side of the market, consolidating sales under its masthead and, unlike RIM, HTC, et al is doing so profitably.
Given that Android device sales were growing incredibly rapidly during a time when no manufacturer was making much profit on them, I think Apple's profit share has been overstated for some time. It was only a matter of time until someone figured out how to make money selling to the slice of the market that Apple ignores.
"imho, people are voting with their money for bigger screens"
Bigger screens were partially a response to Apple's ability to lock up global "retina" LCD production. Unable to compete at ppi, they could compete on absolute resolution. They're certainly popular on their own merits though.
"and different/more exciting OS UX"
This seems a bit fanciful. Here's a better story: guy walks into a store, salesman steers guy towards model that gets him the bigger commission.
