Samsung's Stumble, Motorola's Gain?
Samsung has been the darling of the handset business lately, growing very rapidly with a good reputation, while some of its competitors have struggled. Most obviously, of course, Nokia has been taking a fairly public beating, which many have blamed on a lack of more innovative phones. Motorola had been drifting away as an also ran in the space, though, they’ve made some interesting moves in the last few months. So, it caught a few people by surprise to find out that Samsung had a bit of a stumble in profits, mainly due to the ridiculously low margins they’re getting on phones, following a price war with Nokia. Either way, as the two of them battle it out, some are suggesting this is the opening Motorola needs to slow down the Samsung juggernaut. Having just come out with a number of new phones, some of which have generated lots of buzz, and a new emphasis on “being cool”, some are saying Motorola may be able to turn things around. Still, it’s tough to judge any real trends based on a single quarter’s data, and this race is far from over.
