Apple captured two thirds of available mobile phone profits in Q2

My take on the graph:

1. Apple's margin on iPhone is uniquely high.

2. Despite Samsung and HTC's surge in smartphone unit shipment. Their margins on Android phones have been squeezed so much their share of profits only grows modestly. My guess is the cut-throat price war and the push for specs really affected the bottom-lines.

3. Can MMI be saved? Seriously this company is so spectacularly inefficient quarter after quarter. Android phones only serve to keep it from dying and the Xoom is a flop. Any other Deus Ex Machina? Should we begin to expect another patent bundle bidding war a la Nortel incident?

I have to nit-pick the word 'available' in the title.

Seems to me that Apple is generating extra profit, rather than capturing profit from a fixed 'pool'.

(And wow. These graphs debunk the market-share article from the other day fairly convincingly.)

It's pretty amazing that this comes at the end of an extended product cycle - the iPhone 4's been out for well over a year. Remember also that many characterized the launch of this product cycle as a minor debacle - the product leaked, Apple sued journalists, antenna gate, etc. If Apple's sitting on another compelling product (let alone a low cost unsubsidized iPhone), you have to wonder if some of their competition will survive 2012.

Asymco's "Rawr chart" is very interesting: http://www.asymco.com/2011/05/18/the-rawr-chart/

It shows market share and profit per device, giving total profit as the area in the chart. You can clearly see how Apple makes the most profit per device ($280) but has a relatively small market share whereas Nokia only makes $10 per device but has a huge market share.

My take: More or less constant (RIM, Samsung, HTC) but Nokias profits transfered to Apple, LG and Sony giving up.