South Korean electronics firm Samsung is spending more than ever on lobbying in Washington as it looks to further outpace Apple in smartphone sales.
Politico reports that the US$800,00 spent by the company on lobbying in 2012 was their largest spend yet, with US$480,000 spent in the fourth quarter alone, according to The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
Though Apple still spend more on Washington lobbying, US$540,000 in the fourth quarter and US$1.97 million in total in 2012, their spending has decreased from the US$2.2 million spent in 2011, according to CRP’s Open Secrets website.
This increase in spending follows the strong sales witnessed by Samsung, which reported revenues of US$25 billion last week for the fourth quarter, and an increase in quarterly sales of 90 percent. Apple meanwhile has seen weaker than expected iPhone sales and a reduced quarterly forecast.
Samsung has already been predicted by Strategy Analytics to increase its lead over rival Apple in smartphone sales this year by 35 percent.
“We expect Samsung to slightly extend its lead over Apple this year because of its larger multi-tier product portfolio,” Strategy Analytics’ Executive Director Neil Mawston told Reuters.
About 290 million smartphones are expected to be sold by the South Korean technology company in 2013, a rise from the projected volume of 215 million in 2012. Likewise, Apple’s smartphone sales have been projected to hit 180 million this year, which represents an increase of about 33 per cent from last year.
