Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs resigned this week dropping a bombshell on the tech industry despite his well known heath issues. Samsung is Apple’s main competitor in the smartphone and tablet market, and we believe Steve Jobs resignation could give Samsung a boost in confidence that it could look exploit. Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) fortunes have declined in the last year, and according to a recent report, it has fallen to the #5 position in Western Europe’s smartphone market from the #1 position that it held one year ago.
Apple
Steve Jobs resignation did not have much impact on Apple’s stock, which indicates the confidence that COO Tim Cook can continue to lead the firm as he has during Jobs’ absence. We believe Apple’s product road-map is largely mapped out for the next 2-3 years and so Steve Jobs absence won’t impact operations meaningfully in the near term. However, the main challenge for Cook and Apple overall is whether or not it can continue to foster the same culture of innovation and consumer-focused product development that makes Apple what it is today.
See Apple’s Long Term Challenges without Steve Jobs
Samsung
Apple and Samsung are neck and neck for the lead of the smartphone market while Samsung is quickly catching up in the tablet market. However, the resignation of Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has perhaps cracked the door during this time of transition and Samsung could look to make a push to take advantage of the distraction. Samsung and Apple are intertwined in various legal battles over patent lawsuits and Samsung has started to shore up its own operating system Bada’s capabilities in what looks like posturing following the Google’s (NYSE:GOOG) and Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) announced deal for $12.5 billion.
See Samsung Moves to Shore Up Bada After Google-Motorola Deal
Nokia
The latest IDC report suggests that Nokia has fallen to the #5 position in Western Europe’s smartphone market in Q2 2011 with market share of 10.8% compared to the #1 position that it held one year earlier when it had a market share of 39.5%. ((Dip in Mobile Shipments to Western Europe Causes Concern, New York Times quoting IDC as the source, August 21st, 2011)) This is a sharp decline for Nokia with Samsung, Apple, HTC and Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) holding the top 4 spots in the race to grab the smartphone market share. Nokia’s stock did not show much volatility this week, and traded in a narrow range.
