Samsung Emerges as a Potent Rival to Apple

Apple, the maker of iPhones, iPads and iPods has never faced a challenger able to make a truly popular and profitable smartphone or tablet - not Dell, not Hewlett-Packard, not Nokia, not BlackBerry - until Samsung Electronics.

The South Korean manufacturer's Samsung's Galaxy S III smartphone is the first device to run neck and neck with Apple's iPhone in sales and the two companies are the only ones currently turning profits in the highly competitive industry.

Apple is currently taking 72 percent of the profits in the mobile phone industry with Samsung taking the rest. The two companies take different approaches to the marketplace with Apple constantly charting new territory to dominate while Samsung relies heavily on market research.

Read more: NYTimes