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Look out Samsung: Apple is back on top as world No.1 smartphone, according to analysts.
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| Apple V Samsung: let the smartphone battle begin (again) |
Apple reclaimed top position as the world’s No.1 smartphone vendor during final months of 2011, taking the crown off Android rival Samsung, who held the spot in Q3 (stealing Apple prided position).
Thats according to Strategy Analytics who confirmed this week global shipments of iPhones, Androids and others grew at an astounding 54% hitting “record” 155 m units in Q4.
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Shipments of Apple’s cult smartie, the iPhone, surged a startling 128% compared to same period in 2010, to 37 million devices.
Korean brand Samsung shifted 36.5 million smartphones during the quarter, while Nokia lagged in third place with 19.6m.
“Apple overtook Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with 24 percent market share,” Alex Spektor, Director at Strategy Analytics, said.
This was down to Cupertino’s crafty phone strategy which saw the “distribution of the iPhone family expanded across numerous countries, dozens of operators and multiple price points” he added.
In other words, Apple left no corner of the market unturned in its bid for iPhone domination and sold more new 4S’ than any other model in months October to December, it told investors last week.
However, all is not lost for arch rival Samsung and its flagship Galaxies, say analysts.
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While Apple nabbed the top spot for Q4, the Galaxy creator were the overall smartphone leader in 2011 – for the first time ever – with 20% share of the smartphone pie, noted Strategy’s Neil Mawston.
Shipments of its Android Galaxy devices, including flagship S II, Nexus and Ace, hit almost one hundred million last year – or 97.4m to be precise, beating Apple’s 93m.
And its most definitely a two horse race between the arch rivals, says Mawston, meaning Galaxy V iPhone is shaping up to be the 2012 smartphone battle, again.
“With Samsung is now well positioned alongside Apple in a two-horse race at the forefront of one of the world’s largest and most valuable consumer electronics markets,” said Mawston.
And former mobile darlings Nokia also halved its share of smartphones from 33% to 16% in the past year due to a lackluster portfolio of smartphones and a limited presence in the huge US market – something the Lumia maker is looking to resolve in 2012 via its newly released Windows Phone’s and a concrete US strategy, which CEO Stephen Elop spelt out last week.
Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft will be very much in focus in 2012, and the industry will be watching closely to see how the duo can expand in the high-value 4G across the US and elsewhere, analysts noted.
