Apple has enjoyed the largest share of profits in the smartphone business in the last couple of years, but for the first time they've sunk down to second place despite seeing a growth in iPhone sales year-over-year – Apple has posted a $6.9 billion profit on $35.2 billion in revenue in their Q3 results, which means Samsung is currently the most profitable smartphone manufacturer in the world.
Samsung's profit in the most recent quarter is estimated to be $8.33 billion on $50 billion in revenue, resulting from the sales of 71 million phones. Of course, this isn't that great an achievement considering Apple only makes a few devices compared to Samsung's constant barrage of new smartphones in different form factors, but it does indicate that Apple will have to work some magic into their next iPhone and iPad to rise back to (and stay at) the top again.
