As widely expected, Nokia has been dethroned as the world’s largest handset vendor. Global handset shipments in the first quarter of 2012 reached 368 million units with Samsung, the new leader, grabbing a 25% marketshare, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. According to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics:
“Nokia’s global handset shipments declined a huge 24 percent annually to 82.7 million units in Q1 2012. Volumes were squeezed at both ends, as low-end feature phone shipments in emerging markets stalled and high-end Microsoft Lumia smartphones were unable to offset the rapid decline of Nokia’s legacy Symbian business.”
Samsung shipped an estimated 93.5 million handsets, up from 68.9 million the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, Nokia’s shipments dropped from 108.5 million a year ago to 82.5 million this quarter. Apple held on to third with shipments of 35.1 million handsets, enough for a 10% marketshare.
Nokia held on to the title for an impressive 14 years but has been facing increasing competition over the last few years.
Samsung announced a record quarter this week with operating profits of 5.85 trillion won (about US$5.1 billion). Its handset division accounted for 73% of profits due in large part to strong sales of its Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note devices. With the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III expected to be unveiled in only days, it does not appear that Samsung is quite ready to step down from its new throne.
Read more: Strategy Analytics