Apple with processors that will make the next generation of iPhones tick, bolstering a rival in the process.
Apple is understandably giddy about its success.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus show that consumers were desperate for larger Apple handsets, to the point where they seem to be choosing them over ailing iPads.
The struggles of Apple’s tablet are well documented, but with consumers opting for iPhones instead, Apple won’t be too disheartened. Its margins on phones are bigger than on tablets after all.
The challenge for Apple now is to match those results or at least stay the course.
That could prove impossible seeing as the 2015 iPhone update is expected to be iterative, although the Apple Watch is likely to give it extra cachet over the coming months.
But having seen Samsung come up on the rails before, Apple will be acutely aware of the need to keep innovating.
This is a company that was dismissed in some quarters after Steve Jobs’ death. Now it’s bigger than ever before.
For Samsung, there’s everything to play for.
But if it has another awful year, expect pens to be sharpened and more comparisons to be made with the struggles of the likes of HTC in recent years.
The days of it trying to be all things to all people are surely numbered.
