????科技媒體最喜歡有故事可寫。而它們最愛的故事莫過于勢均力敵的兩家公司之間的競爭。雙方不斷推出新產(chǎn)品或新功能，努力將對方比下去。一個(gè)典型的例子是微軟（Microsoft）和蘋果（Apple）之間持續(xù)了數(shù)十年的技術(shù)競賽，正是它成就了今日的硅谷。

????智能手機(jī)興起之時(shí)，幾大移動(dòng)操作系統(tǒng)制造商之間的激烈競爭已經(jīng)得到了詳細(xì)的記錄。諾基亞（Nokia）和黑莓（Blackberry）等早期領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者被蘋果的iPhone和谷歌（Google）的Android迎頭趕上。同時(shí)，微軟使出渾身解數(shù)，只為保有一席之地。如今，這個(gè)故事已經(jīng)過氣，而且成了一筆算不清的糊涂賬——Android的市場份額更大，但蘋果公司的利潤更高，那么，到底誰是贏家？——在智能手機(jī)領(lǐng)域，新的劇情正在上演。故事情節(jié)是這樣的：“蘋果徹底變革了智能手機(jī)領(lǐng)域，獨(dú)占鰲頭長達(dá)五年之久，直到人們對iPhone審美疲勞，這時(shí)，新的競爭者——三星（Samsung）登場了。

????但這場競爭不僅牽涉市場份額和利潤，更關(guān)乎消費(fèi)者的喜愛。三星或許已經(jīng)在手機(jī)市場占據(jù)了很大的份額，但它的品牌還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不能媲美蘋果。（與谷歌的Android不同，作為一家老牌消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)品制造商，三星一直以來都需要花費(fèi)大量資金來支撐自身的品牌。）

????隨著三星異軍突起，成為最成功的Android手機(jī)制造商，這幾年這家公司漸漸成為蘋果的競爭對手。廣告平臺Millennial Media跟蹤來自Android手機(jī)制造商的移動(dòng)廣告曝光次數(shù)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，三星設(shè)備在Android手機(jī)的總曝光次數(shù)中所占比例已經(jīng)從2011年的23％上升到了2012年秋天的46％。從Millennial Media的數(shù)據(jù)來看，三星搶奪了宏達(dá)電（HTC）、摩托羅拉（Motorola）以及LG的市場份額。

????三星的人氣主要源自Galaxy S系列。2010年6月，首款GalaxyS系列手機(jī)面世以來，這個(gè)系列手機(jī)的發(fā)貨量已經(jīng)超過了1億部。Galaxy頂級Android手機(jī)的性能和功能都在不斷完善。去年iPhone 5發(fā)布時(shí)，許多評論人士認(rèn)為，雖然iPhone 仍然是市場上最好的智能手機(jī)，但它的競爭優(yōu)勢正在減弱。

????Galaxy S4于本月發(fā)布，雖然它要到今年5月才會(huì)上市，但目前它的試用測評褒多貶少。S4某些速度和性能指標(biāo)要比Galaxy S3以及iPhone 5高出一倍。自Galaxy S4發(fā)布以來，科技博客和金融分析師們的討論大多圍繞著三星叫板蘋果的這款最新力作展開。在谷歌搜索中，Galaxy S4被搜索的頻率已經(jīng)與iPhone 5旗鼓相當(dāng)。

????許多人突然開始仔細(xì)審視三星。這家公司的全名是三星電子，它是韓國巨頭三星集團(tuán)的旗艦子公司，而三星集團(tuán)的業(yè)務(wù)范圍從酒店到壽險(xiǎn)到造船業(yè)可謂無所不包。去年，三星電子營收達(dá)到了1,810億美元（約合201萬億韓元），經(jīng)營利潤為260億美元。相比之下，蘋果上一財(cái)年的營收為1,560億美元，經(jīng)營利潤為550億美元。

????三星電子近一半的收入來自手機(jī)事業(yè)部。這個(gè)部門最近一個(gè)季度的營收為250億美元，較去年同期增長了58％。手機(jī)部門是推動(dòng)三星公司整體增長的引擎。過去一年，手機(jī)部門占三星電子營業(yè)總額的比例從36％上升到了49％。而移動(dòng)事業(yè)部，還包含平板電腦和Note手機(jī)等產(chǎn)品，占公司經(jīng)營利潤更是高達(dá)62％。

????The technology press loves a good narrative. And among the most beloved narratives is a good horserace. Two rivals striving to better each other with new products or new features. The archetypal tech rivalry, between Microsoft and Apple not only lasted for decades, it helped make Silicon Valley what it is today.

????During the rise of the smartphone, the great horserace between mobile operating-system makers has been chronicled in great detail. Early leaders like Nokia (NOK) and Blackberry (BBRY) gave up the lead to Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android. Microsoft (MSFT), meanwhile, struggled mightily just to stay in this race. As that story has grown stale and a little muddled -- Android has the bigger market share but Apple has the bigger profits, so who's really winning? -- a new narrative is emerging in the smartphone space. It goes like this: Apple revolutionized and dominated smartphones for five years before iPhone fatigue set in. Now it faces a new contender: Samsung.

????But this horserace isn't about just market share and profits, it's about capturing consumer love. Samsung may have gained a lot of ground in the mobile market, but it still has a ways to go before its brand can rival Apple. (Unlike Google's Android, Samsung is an established manufacturer with a consumer brand it spends heavily to support.)

????The rise of Samsung as a rival to Apple has been coming for a couple of years, as Samsung emerged as the most successful manufacturer of Android phones. Ad platform Millennial Mediatracked mobile-ad impressions from Android-phone manufacturers and found that Samsung devices rose to 46% of total impressions last fall from 23% a year earlier. By that measure, Samsung was stealing share from HTC, Motorola, and LG.

????Much of Samsung's popularity has centered around the Galaxy S series, which has shippedmore than 100 million units since the first Galaxy S launched in June 2010. Top Android phones like the Galaxy line have been improving in speed and features. When the iPhone 5 launched last year, many reviewers felt that even though it remained the best smartphone on the market, its competitive edge had eroded.

????This month saw the introduction of the Galaxy S4, which won't arrive until May but has already received mostly positive "hands-on" reviews. Some speed and performance benchmarks rate ittwice as fast as the Galaxy S3 as well as the iPhone 5. Since the S4's introduction, much of the discussion among tech blogs and financial analysts has centered around this new horse Samsung as it charges on Apple's heels. Google searches on the Galaxy S4 have already become as frequent as those for the iPhone 5.

????Suddenly, many people are taking a closer look at Samsung, which of course is really Samsung Electronics, the flagship subsidiary of the Korean conglomerate active in everything from hotels to life insurance to shipbuilding. Last year, Samsung Electronics made $181 billion (or 201 trillion won) in revenues and $26 billion in operating profit. Apple, by contrast, had $156 billion in revenues and $55 billion in operating profit in its last fiscal year.

????A little less than half of Samsung Electronics' revenues come from its mobility division, which brought in $25 billion in revenues in the most recent quarter, a 58% rise from a year earlier. Mobility is the engine for the company's overall growth. In the past year, the division has gone from 36% of Samsung Electronics' revenues to 49%. The mobile division, which also includes tablets and phones like the Note, accounts for 62% of the company's operating profit.