Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is `solid’, Samsung is rising and, UBS survey

Despite all that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is dong to keep Samsung down, the Korean electronics company has `rising profile' in the mobile market while apple is `solid' according to a recent survey done by UBS.

The team of analyst in UBS, who track the mobile computing segment, have put out a report from a survey on mobile devices and mobile operating systems.

Their conclusion was that Samsung is still a rising star. With a Buy rating on the stock, their analysis is that Samsung's retention is actually going up.

"Samsung’s retention rates have risen significantly over the past twelve months and while still well below Apple and Android, reaching almost 45% (from 28% in 2011) is reflective of the strong products produced by the company over the past few years."

Apple is of course, a `solid' brand though there has been some slight slippage in `retention rate.'

 “Despite the base of Apple iPhone users more than doubling over three years, the retention rates seen by the company remain unprecedented in the handset industry at c.85% (down from 89% in 2011 and 95% in 2010 given early adopter bias).”

Choice of handsets is now almost evenly balanced between Apple and Samsung, with many customers uncertain as to which instrument to buy.

According to the UBS survey, Nokia has seen some stabilisation and the churn seems to be bottoming out.

"After a substantial step down in 2011, Nokia’s retention rates appear to have bottomed, albeit at a low level. Conversely both HTC and Blackberry’s stickiness levels continue to deteriorate."

The survey had very little to say about Microsoft. “It is difficult to see how Microsoft successfully enters a maturing high end smartphone market.”