35. Samsung Is Crushing Apple in Smartphone Sales

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/26/samsung_smartphone_sales_rise_to_double_apple_s_market_share.html

Slate Magazine staff writer Will Oremus wrote on April 26th the article entitled "Samsung Is Crushing Apple in Smartphone Sales." As evident from the title, the article talked about the change in the smartphone sales of the two largest companies, Samsung and Apple. The introductory paragraph started off with good news for the Apple headquarter Cupertino, that its sales rose from"6.6 percent year-over-year to 37.4 million this past quarter." However, the contradiction in "- until you look at the comparable figures for Samsung," not only disrupted the optimistic view for Apple, but also gave a sudden shift in the author's tone. Quoting from Reuters, Oremus concluded that the South Korean industry's sales rose from 60 million to 70.7 million phones and compared that this was larger than the sum of Apple's and the following three largest companies' sales combined. The comparison showed the extent of how successful and great the increase was for the Korean company. Not only were the Apple sales lacking, but the author also noted that Apple was "the only one that has lost market share over the past year," adding further information about the conflicts Apple had been facing. In the second paragraph, Oremus still considered the iPhone to be a "top-end device" but soon overshadowed this with the fact that Android phones were still more advantageous due to the company's way of marketing its products. As a result, the author inferred that "if the current trend holds," Samsung will soon dominate the smartphone market and cause app developers to lean towards building apps for the predominant operating system. In the third paragraph, in spite of the conflicts Apple could face, Oremus talked about the advantages Apple had. Not only were the "iPhone customers significantly more loyal to their brand than Android users," but the company was also looking for newer ways to improve their sales by creating a less expensive iPhone.

The author's purpose for writing this article was to inform and update people with information about the sales increases/decreases in the smartphone market. Though it could have been directed to the public in general, this article was especially usefull for people engaged in economics or people working in such companies. Oremus held a formal and unbiased stand throughout the article, and this was evident when he talked about the Apple sales. Though it faced lost market share and was behind in the smartphone sales, it was still a "top-end device." His objective tone was portrayed through his specific supporting evidence from credible and accredited sources, such as Reuters, Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press. In addition, the use of a recent pie chart at the end of the article provided a visual medium for readers who simply wanted a brief overview about the content of the article and who wanted to see how the sales compared to each other.