In the video below, Fool analyst Lyons George talks about Samsung's dominance over rivals Apple (AAPL -0.35%) and Nokia (NOK 0.28%) in the smartphone market last year.
The Korean manufacturer shipped 213 million smartphones over 2012, setting a record for smartphone shipments. The number for Apple: 135.8 million. While Apple's numbers represent 46% growth year over year, the iPhone's market share remained stagnant at 19%, Lyons says. Samsung's market share jumped from 20% to 30% in that time.
Nokia, meanwhile, saw its share drop from 15% to 5%.
So what is Samsung doing differently?
It is covering the market at every corner, from the high-end Galaxy S and Galaxy Note to low-end models like the Galaxy Y. If you have a pulse and a wallet, there's a Samsung phone for you, Lyons says. But whether that's a profitable strategy remains to be seen. Samsung's margins are much smaller than Apple's.
But Apple cannot afford to ignore the strategy, and it's a good bet the iPhone maker will enter the lower end of the market in the near future, Lyons says.
