51-18-7 -- It's Not About "Cool" Any More -- January 7, 2015; Apple Vs Samsung

Remember that recent posting: after-Christmas mobile device activations -- Apple, 51%; Samsung, 18%; and Microsoft (7%)?

Reuters is reporting:

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday said operating profit likely fell 37.4 percent in the October-December period to $4.74 billion, beating expectations.

This would still mark the company's fifth consecutive quarter of declining operating profit in annual terms, and means annual profit fell for the first time in three years.

Also The AP:

Analysts said Samsung's smartphone business, which contributed two-thirds of its profit in the last two years, continued to struggle but improvements in its semiconductor division helped the company rebound from the third quarter, its worst quarter in nearly three years.

Samsung does a lot more than compete with Apple but the other day I mentioned the 51-18-7 data point to a friend.

He suggested that 51-18-7 must mean that Apple still has the "coolness" factor.

Maybe six years ago, or three years ago. But Apple is way beyond cool. The thing I find most interesting about Apple is the number of little things that Apple puts into their devices and software that no one really knows about -- until someone discovers those little "things" and finds a use for them.

I grew up with Apple, starting with my first Apple desktop in 1984 while stationed in Germany.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, or relationship decisions based on what you read here. I have never owned shares in Apple. I have no plans to start buying shares in the next 72 hours. That seems to be the usual disclaimer / time frame on other sites -- 72 hours. I don't have any plans to buy any Apple shares this week or next week either, but I suppose plans change. It certainly helped me to have Bill Clinton as president; I learned to really parse sentences and read every word.  

I bring up Apple and the "cool" factor for any number of reasons. Nothing specific. I suppose the UE Boom that I recently got my wife really made me sit up and take notice. The UE Boom is an external wireless speaker for mobile devices with Bluetooth capability. I talked about it earlier. It turns out I didn't know much about external wireless speakers either until I got this one, and learned that there are much less expensive options on the market (check Amazon). Interestingly, even if I had known more about external wireless speakers, it would have been a mistake for me to get something other than the UE Boom. It is quite incredible. It beats the Beat Pill just on the "coolness" factor.

What amazes me is how simple the UE Boom was to set up. And I assume it's just as simple with Androids and Samsungs. But, wow, with my wife's iPhone 6, it was incredibly easy. (Just for the record, I don't have a smart phone; never have, never will. My slam-shell [which some call a clam-shell] from 2009, or thereabouts, is simply perfect. Had to get a new battery recently. But I digress.

I am also impressed with the "continuity" function of Apple devices. Instead of trying to explain it, here it is from the Apple website.

By the way, there is a lot more in that AP article on Samsung: it helps me understand where the "i" in iPod, iPad, iPhone is going.

With regard to cell phones, the most recent data, Macrumors is reporting:

The latest smartphone sales data released today from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech highlights good news for Apple on the strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch, with Apple gaining share year-over-year in every country surveyed except for Japan.

The report, focusing on the September-November 2014 period, points out that Android market share dropped in most European markets and saw its first decline in the U.S. since September 2013. In the surveyed period, Apple reached 42.5 percent of UK sales, up 12.2 percentage points from the same time in 2013.