Better Buy: Apple vs. Samsung
Samsung (OTC: SSNLF) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are the No. 1 and No. 3 smartphone brands by global units sold, respectively -- though Apple's premium brand allows it to take home the lion's share of the industry's profits. As the smartphone is perhaps the most important technological device so far this century, most investors know these two large-cap companies as it relates to this intense rivalry.
Yet while most consumers view Apple and Samsung as smartphone companies, it may actually be the other parts of each company's business that most defines and distinguishes them. Therefore, if you're thinking of buying stock in one of these two market leaders, you need to understand their nonsmartphone businesses. That will help determine which stock is the better buy for your portfolio today.
Perhaps the most important distinction between these two companies is that Apple is much more of a consumer brand and ecosystem, whereas Samsung is more of an industrial conglomerate with large economies of scale.
Source Fool.com