三星打败苹果缺的是什么

    科技媒体最喜欢有故事可写。而它们最爱的故事莫过于势均力敌的两家公司之间的竞争。双方不断推出新产品或新功能，努力将对方比下去。一个典型的例子是微软（Microsoft）和苹果（Apple）之间持续了数十年的技术竞赛，正是它成就了今日的硅谷。

    智能手机兴起之时，几大移动操作系统制造商之间的激烈竞争已经得到了详细的记录。诺基亚（Nokia）和黑莓（Blackberry）等早期领导者被苹果的iPhone和谷歌（Google）的Android迎头赶上。同时，微软使出浑身解数，只为保有一席之地。如今，这个故事已经过气，而且成了一笔算不清的糊涂账——Android的市场份额更大，但苹果公司的利润更高，那么，到底谁是赢家？——在智能手机领域，新的剧情正在上演。故事情节是这样的：“苹果彻底变革了智能手机领域，独占鳌头长达五年之久，直到人们对iPhone审美疲劳，这时，新的竞争者——三星（Samsung）登场了。

    但这场竞争不仅牵涉市场份额和利润，更关乎消费者的喜爱。三星或许已经在手机市场占据了很大的份额，但它的品牌还远远不能媲美苹果。（与谷歌的Android不同，作为一家老牌消费电子产品制造商，三星一直以来都需要花费大量资金来支撑自身的品牌。）

    随着三星异军突起，成为最成功的Android手机制造商，这几年这家公司渐渐成为苹果的竞争对手。广告平台Millennial Media跟踪来自Android手机制造商的移动广告曝光次数，结果发现，三星设备在Android手机的总曝光次数中所占比例已经从2011年的23％上升到了2012年秋天的46％。从Millennial Media的数据来看，三星抢夺了宏达电（HTC）、摩托罗拉（Motorola）以及LG的市场份额。

    三星的人气主要源自Galaxy S系列。2010年6月，首款GalaxyS系列手机面世以来，这个系列手机的发货量已经超过了1亿部。Galaxy顶级Android手机的性能和功能都在不断完善。去年iPhone 5发布时，许多评论人士认为，虽然iPhone 仍然是市场上最好的智能手机，但它的竞争优势正在减弱。

    Galaxy S4于本月发布，虽然它要到今年5月才会上市，但目前它的试用测评褒多贬少。S4某些速度和性能指标要比Galaxy S3以及iPhone 5高出一倍。自Galaxy S4发布以来，科技博客和金融分析师们的讨论大多围绕着三星叫板苹果的这款最新力作展开。在谷歌搜索中，Galaxy S4被搜索的频率已经与iPhone 5旗鼓相当。

    许多人突然开始仔细审视三星。这家公司的全名是三星电子，它是韩国巨头三星集团的旗舰子公司，而三星集团的业务范围从酒店到寿险到造船业可谓无所不包。去年，三星电子营收达到了1,810亿美元（约合201万亿韩元），经营利润为260亿美元。相比之下，苹果上一财年的营收为1,560亿美元，经营利润为550亿美元。

    三星电子近一半的收入来自手机事业部。这个部门最近一个季度的营收为250亿美元，较去年同期增长了58％。手机部门是推动三星公司整体增长的引擎。过去一年，手机部门占三星电子营业总额的比例从36％上升到了49％。而移动事业部，还包含平板电脑和Note手机等产品，占公司经营利润更是高达62％。

    The technology press loves a good narrative. And among the most beloved narratives is a good horserace. Two rivals striving to better each other with new products or new features. The archetypal tech rivalry, between Microsoft and Apple not only lasted for decades, it helped make Silicon Valley what it is today.

    During the rise of the smartphone, the great horserace between mobile operating-system makers has been chronicled in great detail. Early leaders like Nokia (NOK) and Blackberry (BBRY) gave up the lead to Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android. Microsoft (MSFT), meanwhile, struggled mightily just to stay in this race. As that story has grown stale and a little muddled -- Android has the bigger market share but Apple has the bigger profits, so who's really winning? -- a new narrative is emerging in the smartphone space. It goes like this: Apple revolutionized and dominated smartphones for five years before iPhone fatigue set in. Now it faces a new contender: Samsung.

    But this horserace isn't about just market share and profits, it's about capturing consumer love. Samsung may have gained a lot of ground in the mobile market, but it still has a ways to go before its brand can rival Apple. (Unlike Google's Android, Samsung is an established manufacturer with a consumer brand it spends heavily to support.)

    The rise of Samsung as a rival to Apple has been coming for a couple of years, as Samsung emerged as the most successful manufacturer of Android phones. Ad platform Millennial Mediatracked mobile-ad impressions from Android-phone manufacturers and found that Samsung devices rose to 46% of total impressions last fall from 23% a year earlier. By that measure, Samsung was stealing share from HTC, Motorola, and LG.

    Much of Samsung's popularity has centered around the Galaxy S series, which has shippedmore than 100 million units since the first Galaxy S launched in June 2010. Top Android phones like the Galaxy line have been improving in speed and features. When the iPhone 5 launched last year, many reviewers felt that even though it remained the best smartphone on the market, its competitive edge had eroded.

    This month saw the introduction of the Galaxy S4, which won't arrive until May but has already received mostly positive "hands-on" reviews. Some speed and performance benchmarks rate ittwice as fast as the Galaxy S3 as well as the iPhone 5. Since the S4's introduction, much of the discussion among tech blogs and financial analysts has centered around this new horse Samsung as it charges on Apple's heels. Google searches on the Galaxy S4 have already become as frequent as those for the iPhone 5.

    Suddenly, many people are taking a closer look at Samsung, which of course is really Samsung Electronics, the flagship subsidiary of the Korean conglomerate active in everything from hotels to life insurance to shipbuilding. Last year, Samsung Electronics made $181 billion (or 201 trillion won) in revenues and $26 billion in operating profit. Apple, by contrast, had $156 billion in revenues and $55 billion in operating profit in its last fiscal year.

    A little less than half of Samsung Electronics' revenues come from its mobility division, which brought in $25 billion in revenues in the most recent quarter, a 58% rise from a year earlier. Mobility is the engine for the company's overall growth. In the past year, the division has gone from 36% of Samsung Electronics' revenues to 49%. The mobile division, which also includes tablets and phones like the Note, accounts for 62% of the company's operating profit.