Apple benefiting from Samsung killing off the Note 7

Oct 12, 2016 12:08 GMT  ·  By

Samsung is killing off the Note 7 and the first company to benefit from this decision is Apple, as Cupertino is expected to record growing sales thanks to customers looking for phablets with similar specs.

Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White said in a note to investors that Apple could get as many as 8 million new buyers after the Note 7 fiasco, explaining that this marks “a big opportunity for Apple to gain market share.”

Android is currently the leading mobile operating system with as much as 80 percent, depending on research firm and region, and Samsung is the number one device manufacturer, partly thanks to new models such as the Galaxy S7, which sold in record numbers.

Strong iPhone 7 sales

The iPhone 7 is doing well even without Samsung’s help, the analyst explains, and the Chinese market, which has often been considered a rather unfriendly region for Apple, seems to be very successful for the new model. The Plus version is experiencing better sales in China, but overall the iPhone 7 lineup is recording strong demand across the entire country.

“During our visit to over 30 smartphone stores and electronic retailers in Shenzhen this week, we could feel the momentum of Apple’s iPhone franchise and the struggles at some of its important competitors in China,” the analyst explained.

“The iPhone 7 Plus is clearly favored over the iPhone 7 in China, while the two new black colors were the most popular. Moreover, today’s meetings with two leading China-based telecom carriers highlighted better demand for the iPhone 7/7 Plus launch compared to the iPhone 6s/6s Plus. In Hong Kong, one of our contacts indicated that the 256GB Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus was selling for HK22,000 (US$2,835) shortly after launch.”

Apple hasn’t provided any details on iPhone 7 sales, and the company has even refused to disclose first-weekend sales for the new model, but demand is believed to be very high, especially because the top models in Black and Jet Black were listed as out of stock shortly after launch.