Samsung and Apple have been rivals for many years. They have sued each other for billions of dollars and their loyal fans never see each other eye to eye on smartphone matters. However, both companies are dependent on each when it comes to manufacturing their products. They are what social networks call “frenemies”.
Apple uses many essential components from Samsung such as chipsets and screens. With the record-breaking amount that Samsung pours on R&D, Apple would be hard-pressed to find better alternative components elsewhere. The iPhone X is also a beneficiary of those parts.
According to Wall Street Journal, Samsung sells parts worth $110 on each iPhone X made. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics –the one that makes Galaxy devices- orders part worth $202 from other Samsung subsidiaries.
Counterpoint Technology, a company that does market research, forecasts that Apple will sell 130 million units of the iPhone X against the 50 million units projected for the Samsung Galaxy S8. These projections account for 20 months since the launch of each of these devices. Apple manages to keep their devices on demand for longer since they only have a single flagship phone launch per year against Samsung’s 6-months interval between Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Note lineup.
After number crunching, it was concluded that Samsung will make $4 billion more from the iPhone X than their own Galaxy S8. In fact, last year, Apple accounted for 35% of Samsung’s revenue. As much both of them are rivals, it would not be strange to find out that Samsung secretly prays that the iPhone X is a success.
