A look at the leading rivals of Apple Inc.

Apple is the largest player in the tech industry with a market cap of around $3.5 Trillion. The company has positioned itself as an innovative brand and is known for its aggressive focus on customer experience. It makes and sells hardware products and services. Its core product is the iPhone. However, the company also sells Macs, iPads and a nice range of services. The share of services in its total revenue has increased significantly in recent years.

In this post, we are going to analyze the main competitors of Apple Inc in the smartphone and computing sectors. Apple is operating in a highly competitive market environment. Its leading competitors include Samsung and other major tech brands.

Here is a list of the main competitors of Apple:

Main Rivals of Apple Inc.

Samsung:

Samsung is a South Korea based multinational conglomerate and a leading competitor of Apple Inc in the consumer electronics segment. Based on the number of annual shipments, Samsung is the largest player in the smartphone sector globally. Samsung is also one of the leading spenders on R&D in the entire industry and spends a huge sum on innovation each year. The company has a more diverse product portfolio compared to Apple.

Samsung makes and sells a wide range of products that include the Galaxy series smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, televisions, home appliances and semiconductors. Apple and Samsung are rivals mainly in the smartphone segment as well as the smartwatch segment. The two are fierce rivals and while Samsung is at number one position in the smartphone sector based on number of shipments, Apple is at the second position.

Apart from its diverse product portfolio, Samsung’s strong presence across diverse markets is also a key strength. The company has strong R&D capabilities and manufacturing capabilities.

Microsoft Corporation:

Microsoft is a US based global technology company which is also among the largest players in the technology sector. Apart from offering software services and hardware devices, Microsoft is also known for its cloud platform Azure. It offers Windows PCs, and the surface lineup of laptops, tablets and two in ones. The company is also a leading name in software and cloud services.

Microsoft’s product portfolio is much more diversified compared to Apple. Its cloud services also account for a significant part of its total net revenue. Microsoft also owns Windows OS, which holds the largest share in the operating system market. It also owns the MS Office Suite of productivity software. Windows is the main competitor of Apple’s MacOS which is used in Apple’s PCs and laptops.

Microsoft is a dominant player in software, enterprise solutions, and cloud computing. Its Surface lineup competes with Mac PCs and laptops as well as iPad. The company has also experienced significant growth in its earnings from cloud technology portfolio.

Google:

Google, parent company Alphabet is also among the largest players in the global technology industry. The company is based in the United States and focuses mainly on search, software, advertising and hardware. Google is also the dominant player in search advertising.

Google generates a substantial part of its total net revenue from advertising which also includes YouTube advertising. Its other products include Pixel smartphones, Chromebooks, smart speakers, cloud services and software applications. The company is the maker of Android operating system which has the largest market share among the mobile operating systems and is the main rival of Apple's iOS, used in Apple's iPhones. While Google generates most of its revenue from search advertising, the company also generates a significant part of its total sales from cloud computing.

Google is the dominant player in online services, search and mobile operating systems. Its Pixel smartphone competes with iPhones by Apple. However, the market share of Pixel is very low compared to iPhone.

Amazon:

Amazon is also a US based multinational tech leader. It is the world's largest ecommerce company as well as a leading cloud player. Amazon is known to be highly aggressive about innovation and spends the highest sum each year on research and development each year in the entire industry.

The company is the world's largest ecommerce brand as well as a leader in cloud sector. It is also producing a large number of products sold on its digital commerce platform in house. Apart from these, Amazon offers Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Music that compete with Apple + and Apple Music. Its prime video is among the leading online entertainment platforms in the United States and several more markets across the globe. Amazon music is also one of the leading players in the online music streaming sector.

Huawei:

Huawei is a multinational technology company based in China. It is a global provider of telecom equipment, consumer electronics and smartphones. However, in the past the company had been accused of stealing technologies from other companies as well as spying for the Chinese government. Once it used to be a leading competitor of Apple in the US. Following the accusations, the company lost footing in the United States as well as some more leading markets. Huawei has been banned in the US but it is still a leading player in the Chinese market. Apart from its strong focus on innovation in smartphone technology, Huawei also has a strong presence in the emerging markets. It is also a leader in 5G infrastructure.

Dell Technologies Inc:

Dell is another US based multinational technology company that has a strong presence in the PC and enterprise solutions markets. The company is a leader in PC and laptop segments and has introduced PCs and laptops in different price ranges for various customer segments. Dell competes with Apple mainly in the PC and laptop segments. Its Alienware range caters to the gaming enthusiasts. Dell has introduced a vast range of PCs and laptops for professionals as well as gamers. The Alienware laptops have found heavy popularity among the gaming community. Dell enjoys strong brand awareness and customer loyalty. It has a strong presence in the enterprise market and offers a diverse lineup with a focus on custom built solutions for businesses.

Sony Corporation:

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate that operates in several different segments including consumer electronics, gaming, entertainment, and financial services. Apart from smartphones, Sony also makes and sells PlayStation gaming consoles, cameras, audio devices, TVs, and entertainment content. Its Xperia smartphones used to be very popular once. However, it experienced a significant fall in its market share in the smartphone market where it used to compete with Apple. Sony still sells a diverse range of consumer electronics products. The company has a leading position in gaming with its PlayStation and a strong position in entertainment content production.

Lenovo Group:

Lenovo is a multinational technology company based in China and one of the largest PC manufacturers globally. Its product range includes laptops, desktops, tablets, servers as well as smartphones. Since its market share in the smartphone market has continued to fall, the company has turned its focus towards other channels of income including data center solutions. Lenovo had acquired Motorola to strengthen its position in the smartphone sector but Motorola failed to make its mark in the Asian and other markets. The company however, still competes with Apple in the PC and laptop segments. Apart from its strong presence in the PC and laptop market, Lenovo is also experiencing a growing presence in the data center solutions segment.

Xiaomi Corporation:

Xiaomi is a Chinese electronics company that has established itself as a significant player in the smartphone sector. It offers smartphones, smart home devices, and consumer electronics. The company makes and sells smartphones (Mi and Redmi series), smartwatches, fitness trackers, TVs, and various smart home products. Xiaomi offers competitively priced products and is focused mainly on the emerging markets. It also offers a nice range of consumer electronics products.

HP Inc:

HP is a well known American multinational IT company that is focused mainly on PC and printing segments. It has a leadership position in the PC and printer markets and the company enjoys strong brand awareness globally. HP offers laptops (HP Spectre, HP Envy, HP Pavilion), desktops, printers, and other peripherals. Its PC and laptop range includes PCs for various user segments including students, professionals and gamers as well as personal use PCs. Its premium range of laptops competes with Mac. However, the company also offers a nice range of competitively priced PCs and laptops.

HP has maintained a strong presence in the PC and imaging industries. Its portfolio in personal computing is quite diverse and the company invests heavily in innovation. The company also enjoys strong brand awareness as well as customer loyalty.

One Plus:

One Plus is a China based manufacturer of consumer electronics products. It makes and sells smartphones, earphones, power banks, televisions and smart watches. The brand is known for making consumer centric devices challenging industry standards. It has introduced a nice range of smartphones and become a significant player in the smartphone sector. Its flagship product is its One PLus series. However, the company also sells its budget oriented Nord series, gaming oriented Ace series as well as the Open series. The company has maintained a strong focus on innovation and introduced smartphone models for different consumer segments in different price categories. It also enjoys very strong brand awareness in several Asian markets.

Oppo:

Oppo is a Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company that has maintained a strong global presence. It is headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong, China. The brand manufactures and sells a nice range of smartphones, audio devices and other consumer electronics products. While Oppo and One Plus have merged officially, they operate independently.

Oppo has introduced various smartphone series to cater to the preferences of different consumer segments. Its Find series emphasizes innovation and premium features while the Reno series focuses on powerful and smart camera capabilities. Oppo’s smartphone devices are known for their sleek designs as well as cutting edge technologies. The brand has gained recognition for pushing the limits of smartphone photography with advanced camera systems. Oppo is among the top five players in the global smartphone industry and known for its focus on innovation as well as strong global presence.