iPhone 5 Not Likely to Affect Samsung Shipments -- Report

Apple released its much-ballyhooed iPhone 5 recently, injecting the latest iteration of its mobile phone into a volatile market. Chief among Apple’s competition is Samsung and one might assume that the unveiling of the newest smartphone may have an impact on Samsung’s sales—not according to a report released by an industry analyst-consultant.

Greenwich Consulting, a firm focusing on telecom, media, utilities and financial services found that Apple’s introduction of new iterations of its iPhone have not historically been shown to have much effect on Samsung shipments. The company overtook Apple in smartphone shipments last

year. One factor could be the number of different smartphones that Samsung offers. That said, Apple still rakes in more revenue from mobile phones than Samsung does. At least for now. Apple has adopted a high margin strategy and Samsung produces a number of different products for different markets, at lower prices.

Also in the report were advertising figures showing the enormity of Apple’s estimated advertising spending, compared with competitors Samsung and HTC (Taiwan:HTCCY). Samsung (KRX:005935) spent $250 million in US advertising so far in 2012—less than half what Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) spent, as an estimate. Samsung spent a total of $142 million in 2011, according to Greenwich Consulting’s report.

It’s not unheard of for demand to outstrip supply when highly publicized, hip new products hit the market. In fact it's a boon to a company’s marketing campaign to be able to boast about being sold out due to fanatic consumer interest. So it’s not odd that the iPhone is sold out. What is noteworthy is the speed at which people want to buy the things. Customers ordered more iPhones from AT&T (NYSE:T) than any previous model both on its first day of pre-orders and over the weekend.

Could this new iPhone have the affect on Samsung (LSE:SMSN) that the report’s figures show it has not had before? What will the impact of the Samsung – Apple legal wrangling be? Comment below and say your piece.