Samsung outsold both Apple and Nokia to sell the most mobile phones and smartphones during third quarter of 2012.
According to technology research firm Gartner, the South Korean conglomerate sold 98 million phones in Q3, subsequently gaining a 22.9 percent market share.
Samsung also sold the most smartphones during the quarter, spearheaded by the Galaxy S3, which recently surpassed the 30 million units sold milestone. The company sold an accumulative of 55 million smartphone units, while Apple sold 23.6 million iPhones. The Galaxy S3 itself was the top selling smartphone in the world in Q3.
Nokie outsold Apple, however, by boasting 82 million sales. In the smartphone market, though, the financially troubled company sold just 7.2 million devices.
About 16.2 million iPhone 4S units were shipped during the period, which is down from 19.4 million when compared to the second quarter. The handset's share of worldwide sales, meanwhile, dropped from 12.7 percent to 9.7 percent. As for the device's successor, the iPhone 5, Apple's latest smartphone shipped 6 million units, giving it a 3.6 percent share.
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, stressed that while the Galaxy S3 has proven to be successful with consumers, operators in North America, Europe and Asia, and of course Samsung who generated record profits thanks to the device, its dominance will be threatened by the iPhone 5.
"The Apple iPhone 5 has gotten off to a solid start already,” he said. "We expect the new iPhone 5 to out-ship Samsung’s Galaxy S3 in the coming fourth quarter of 2012 and Apple should soon reclaim the title of the world’s most popular smartphone."
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Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
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wemakeourfuture Now if they can only support their phones for at least 3 years that would be great for the customers. No sense saving $50-$100 on a phone and then its dead from an update point of view after 1.5 years and/or you have to wait 4-8 months after a major OS update to get it.Reply -
cornandbeans TBH I don't like Samsung at all, but I bought S3 just because it has the best performance and other phones just can't keep up. I flashed CM10 once I bought it so I don't give a *** about how the stock ROM sucks.Reply -
freggo "Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, stresse ... its dominance will be threatened by the iPhone 5."Reply
Seriously man? You are the boss there and you can not see the writing on the wall? Goes to show that being a CEO, Director etc. does not always mean you actually have a clou.
Apple, like in the 1980s PC wars, is being out-sold, out-developed and out-classed by the competition. They have always been a one horse show and got lucky with the iPhone as the market and the technology was simply ready for a smart phone. But what looked hot, cool and innovative a few years ago now looks like a dated design; kinda like a 10 year old car.
And Samsung has clearly the better toys (not just a single phone) to offer for our drive ways :-)
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vkg1 The main difference between Samsung phones and HTC and LG phones is that Samsung phones share the same basic UI as the iPhone.Reply
As this has now emerged as the key to success in an iSheep/low-IQ world, all the other companies beside Samsung will additional take this approach as well, and then bye-bye fruit company and don't let the door hit you on the way out. If only Steve had lived longer to see for himself, the victory would be all the more sweet. -
robochump Good for Samsung, constant competition will breed better products. They do make multiple style smart phones with the Galaxy S III being their best seller. Funny thing is that droid fan boys call consumers of Apple iSheep because Apple is so popular. If Samsung is doing well then should their consumers be called SamSheep? Only makes sense....lol.Reply -
fuzzion "Nokie outsold Apple, however, by boasting 82 million sales"Reply
Where do i buy a Nokie? :P -
rds1220 ReplySamsung outsold both Apple and Nokia to sell the most mobile phones and smartphones during third quarter of 2012.
Suck it CrApple.