Apple, Nokia, RIM and Samsung are most profitable OEMs

If there's one stat that helps illustrate the impact iPhone has had on the mobile market over the course of the last four years, profitability would appear to be it.

Nokia may still be leading the pack when it comes to market share, but numbers tracked by asymco suggest surging iPhone sales since its launch in 2007 have helped more than halve the Finnish firm's share of profits.

Famous five

What's more, of the multitude of OEMs out there, only five appear to be making a profit worth writing home about in the first place.

Apple leads the way, according to asymco's numbers, with Nokia, Samsung and RIM all vying for what appears to be around a 15 percent market share each.

Of the other vendors, only HTC's profit share is notable, remaining stable throughout even though recent Flurry stats suggest its share of Android sales has took a hit in 2010.

The Android raceHowever, three other Android OEMs LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have been squeezed out, with LG in particular having seen a competitive share in mid 2009 all but eradicated over the last year and a half.

Motorola, which dominated Google's OS in the US in early 2010 thanks to strong Droid sales, barely registers in terms of profit.

It's further evidence that Android is becoming an increasingly competitive market. On a wider scale, it also suggests that despite predicted growth for the mobile market as a whole over the next few years only a few manufacturers look set to truly benefit.

[source: asymco]