Apple claimed a staggering 80% of mobile profit in Q4

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Impressive data points from <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2012/01/24/disappointing-iphone-4s-leads-apple-to-most-profitable-quarter-in-tech-history/">Apple’s record-setting holiday quarter</a> continue to trickle out, and new estimates suggest that the company accounted for a staggering share of mobile profits in the fourth quarter of 2011. Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt wrote in a research note on Tuesday that Apple took in approximately 50% of all mobile industry revenues last quarter. Even more impressive, the analyst says Apple’s high-margin iPhone lineup accounted for more than 80% of all mobile phone profits. Read on for more.<span id="more-126045"></span>

McCourt reiterated his Outperform rating on shares of Apple stock, noting that industry revenue grew 34% in the fourth calendar quarter including Apple’s results, but it would have slid 0.4% excluding Apple.

“The broad handset industry appears to be heading into recession territory with overall handset shipment growth decelerating substantially to the lowest level since 2009,” the analyst wrote <a href="http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/02/07/apple-50-of-mobile-revenue-80-of-profit-says-morgan-keegan/">according to Barron’s blog <em>Tech Trader Daily</em></a>. “It appears likely Q1:12 could decline Y/Y in unit terms if normal seasonality occurs. Historically, this has only happened during meaningful global recessions […] Outside of Samsung, it’s getting increasingly hard to understand where the rest of the competitors will get the R&D dollars to compete longer term given their shrinking profitability. Perhaps Microsoft and Google have the answer.”

Morgan Keegan’s estimate that Apple took in more than 80% of all mobile profit last quarter exceeds earlier estimates that put the figure around 75%. Either estimate is telling of the current state of the industry, however, considering the Cupertino-based vendor was responsible for <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/07/samsung-takes-another-page-from-apples-playbook-increase-margins/">just 9% of all cell phones shipped between October and December last year</a>. UBS analyst Maynard Um wrote recently that he expects <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/03/apple-and-samsung-to-pull-in-90-of-smartphone-profits-in-2012-ubs-says/">Apple and Samsung to combine to account for 90% of global smartphone profits in 2012</a>.

As high as the iPhone 4S sent Apple’s earnings last quarter, the firm’s next-generation smartphone could be an even bigger hit. Apple’s next iPhone is expected to feature a redesigned aluminum case, 4G LTE connectivity and a larger display that measures approximately 4 inches diagonally. BGR reported this past December that <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/27/apple-to-launch-completely-redesigned-iphone-in-fall-2012/">the new smartphone will likely launch this fall</a>.

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Via BRG - Boy Genius Report