Samsung overtakes Nokia as biggest mobile vendor

By Stephen Fenech On Apr 28, 2012

Samsung has overtaken Nokia as the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer – ending the Finnish company’s 14-year reign at the top, according to an industry study.

Bloomberg’s Strategy Analytics research said Samsung shipped 93.5 million handsets in the first quarter of 2012 – a 36 per cent year-on-year increase.

Nokia came in second with 82.7 million units for Q1 2012.

Nokia had held the top position in the mobile market since overtaking Motorola back in 1998.

Samsung has also regained the lead over Apple as the world’s biggest seller of smartphones with 44.5 million units compared with 35.1 million iPhones from Apple.

Based on those figures, Samsung has 31 per cent of the smartphone market while Apple accounts for 24 per cent.

Nokia’s new Windows Phones – including the Lumia 800 – sold more than two million units in Q1 2012 with Nokia’s total smartphone sales for the period at 11.9 million.

Samsung’s success comes on the back of the Galaxy S II, named the world’s best handset at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, and the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note.

The South Korean company also released a 4G version of the Galaxy S II for the Telstra network last month.

And it looks like the success will continue with the imminent launch of the highly-anticipated Galaxy S III in early May.

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