The South Korean electronics company Samsung has now overtaken Apple to become the most profitable mobile phone company in the world.

Apple’s share in the market has dropped to 14% – its lowest in three years – due to the comparatively lacklustre sales of the iPhone 5 and increased levels of competition from its rivals.

One of the biggest factors in Samsung’s increased success is believed to be the increased demand for cheaper Android devices in Asia and Latin American.  The company’s handset division made around £3.4 billion in operating profit during the second quarter of 2013; during this period, it accounted for 27.7% of all mobile phone sales.

Previously, Apple’s iPhone had been dominant; however, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, the latest model is underperforming.  Apple’s dominance in sales has always been due to the high cost of each handset rather than pure numbers, but it was unable to continue its dominance due to the lack of a competing model to ship at the same time as Samsung’s recent Galaxy S4.

The two main firms dominate the market, with the next company – LG – only taking 5.1% of the market share.  Lenovo and ZTE came in with 4.7% and 4.2% of the market respectively.

Rumours abound that Apple is currently working on its next model, the iPhone 5S, which is expected to launch in September this year.  Many experts believe that Apple will once again take its place at the forefront of the market when the next iPhone is released.

To find out more about Samsung and Apple’s latest products, contact business mobile stockist Synergy Mobile today.