Samsung overtook Apple for the first time in the period July-September to become the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer – only a few months after Apple took the crown from Nokia.
Samsung shipped 27.8 million smartphones in the three month period, compared to 17.1 million from Apple, and 16.8 million from Nokia according to research from Strategy Analytics. Apple’s sluggish performance for the period was likely due to customers waiting for the release of the iPhone 4S before upgrading, whilst Samsung led the smartphone field for months with the Galaxy SII.
In terms of total handset sales, Apple currently sits in fifth place with 4.4% market-share as it does not sell any dumb-phones or feature-phones, and focuses solely on high-margin smartphones. Nokia was the top handset shipper with 27.3% market-share, with Samsung in second with 22.6%, LG in third with 5.4%, and Chinese manufacturer ZTE taking the fourth spot with 4.4%.
Nokia’s dominance in the phone arena has been sliding for the last year, but with the recent release of new Windows Phone 7 smartphones they could be making a comeback soon.
[via BBC]