A New Number 1?

Apple and Samsung Electronics are sucking up every penny of profit in the handset business. But Samsung’s mobile business is growing fast, and the question is: Could it surpass Apple in profit next quarter?

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity, an investment research firm, think so, according to a new report. The report, issued on Monday, said that in the first quarter of the year, Apple took 57 percent of profit in the handset business, while Samsung took 43 percent. That shows substantial growth for Samsung’s phones. For comparison, in the first quarter last year, Apple raked in 74 percent of profit, and Samsung took 26 percent.

In the report, Michael Walkley, a Canaccord Genuity analyst, said he believed that in the June quarter, slowing sales of the iPhone combined with strong sales of Samsung’s new flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, may catapult Samsung to the top spot.