Samsung Still King of US Ad spending, but Apple Closes Gap

Samsung has outspent Apple again in advertising in the US, but the latter has narrowed the gap from 2012 to $12 million last year, according to data shared by Kantar Media. The South Korean manufacturer, however, retained the top spot in advertising spending among its rivals.

Apple ad campaign

To put that into numbers: Samsung has spent about $363 million on all US mobile phone ads, a 10% drop compared to last year’s $401 million, and it was the only smartphone maker to cut ad spending the in country.

Samsung was followed by Apple, with $351 million spent on total US smartphone advertising, up 5% from $333 million, the data shared with the Wall Street Journal reveals. As it turns out, the iPhone maker has focused most of its ad budget on TV ads, spending $339 million, up 15% compared to the previous year.

The third-biggest spender was Nokia, which spent 15-times what it spent a year ago, due to its deal with Microsoft. In numbers, this meant the company spent $221 million on advertising in one year. In fourth place we find Motorola, which tripled spending to $189 million. BlackBerry’s $90 million puts the Canadian smartphone maker in the fifth place; HTC ranked sixth, spending $78 million, and LG invested $50 million in US ads.

In total, the seven biggest smartphone manufacturers spend more than $1.3 billion on ads in 2013, up 33% from 2012, the Kantar Media report highlights.

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