Apple has elicited a lot of hand-wringing by investors and fans alike lately , even as its chief competition Samsung seems to be prompting nothing but applause . Turns out selling a wider variety of phones and tablets is a good strategy after all . While Apple was on its way to the company 's first profit decline in almost a decade during the first three months of the year , Samsung 's net profit grew 42 percent in the same period to 7.2 trillion won -- about $ 6.5 billion U.S. -- from 5 trillion won a year earlier . It was a record-setting quarter for the Korean consumer electronics maker . `` Our business earnings grew from the previous quarter driven by an increase in smartphone sales and decreased marketing expenses , '' Hyun Joon Kim , Samsung 's vice president of mobile planning told analysts . In other words , Samsung sold more phones while pumping less money into marketing . Kim further pinned the quarter 's success on sales of its flagship smartphone , the Galaxy S3 , and its oversized Galaxy Note 2 handset . Research firms underscored the two companies ' divergent financial performance with units shipped . `` Samsung shipped almost two times more smartphones and grew nine times faster than Apple during the quarter , '' said Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston in a report digging into the first quarter . Another research firm , Juniper Analytics , estimates Samsung shipped 68 million smartphones during the first quarter , accounting for approximately 34 % of the 200 million smartphones sold . Apple in contrast , sold north of 37 million iPhones during the same quarter . The quarter met with the guidance Samsung had earlier provided , but it was all the more impressive because the company pulled it off despite being forced to pay out an estimated $ 600 million to Apple , and even before it dropped its next-generation smartphone , the S4 , ( which just went on sale in the United States over the weekend ) . The S4 is expected to keep the Samsung streak going , and one would think ought to light a fire beneath Apple . Apple has stubbornly resisted offering a lower-priced iPhone , or a handset with a significantly larger screen-size ( older , discounted models do n't count as a true lower price effort ) . In the tablet space it has been more willing to experiment , and has had great success with its smaller , and lower priced iPad Mini . But with Samsung on a roll , and showing no signs of letting up on its variety of offerings , Apple may be forced to rethink its strategy . The pressure will be on for Apple to come up with its own plan to expand into new markets , and beyond the premium category that it has dominated for so long . Until it does , you can expect the applause for Samsung to continue .
As Apple sales dip , Samsung continues to climb . In first three quarters of 2015 , Apple sales dipped for first time in a decade . During same period , Samsung 's sales were up 42 percent . Apple has made bigger , and cheaper products ; Samsung makes a variety .