Samsung Phone Sales Overtake Nokia Worldwide: Strategy Analytics

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co overtook Nokia as the world's top handset maker for the first time in the first quarter, ending the Finnish firm's 14-year reign, a report by research firm Strategy Analytics showed on Friday.

Samsung sold 93.5 million handsets in the first quarter, taking 25.4 percent of the global mobile phone market, Strategy Analytics said.

Nokia sold 82.7 million phones and had 22.5 percent of the market, followed by Apple's 9.5 percent.

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

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Comments

[jettymichael]

11:38 AM on 04/28/2012

Nokia was rather sluggish in getting into the smartphone market. HTC is big in 3rd world countries unfortunately counterfeits.

[Mools]

12:32 AM on 04/28/2012

Who cares? What use does this information have for me? I bought an HTC and love it. My next phone purchase will be based on what is available, from whom, and what phone I feel best suits my purposes. Buying anything based purely on brand is pretty stupid, in my opinion.

[retrievals]

04:32 PM on 04/27/2012

I think I want a galaxy note. When is Verizon getting it?

[sdwalm]

01:50 PM on 04/27/2012

I know I love my Samsung Galaxy Note. It's an awesome phone!

[zaglossus]

01:45 PM on 04/27/2012

You read the elitist media you would think everybody has an iPhone. Not true.

[Judith K Bogdanove]

02:20 PM on 04/27/2012

I am not an elitist, but I wouldn't switch from iPhone if you gave me the Samsung for free. Everyone I know who is still stuck with another brand longs for the day they can get an iPhone.

[PhilliePhan]

05:17 PM on 04/27/2012

You ought to get out more and meet more than 3 people.

[Jasmine Adamson]

06:25 PM on 04/27/2012

Keep drinkin the kool-aid... I've used both phones, and the iPhone is simply not as nice as the Samsung Galaxy S2 for example. The open development platform is a lot easier to work with also. I was able to build a basic Android app after 2 days of practice - I can't even penetrate the first level of iPhone development because I don't have a Mac. And, if you think forcing developers to use computers whose only redeeming feature is iPhone development isn't bad enough, you also have to pay Apple for the privilege of making apps for them. No thanks - that isn't the way the world works. Apple can try to force the issue all they want, but the grass will still be greener over here. Serious.

[elicourey]

02:50 PM on 04/27/2012

The iPhone is still the highest selling smartphone in the world, this article is just saying that Samsung sells more phones than Apple. Kinda like how the Toyota Corolla is the most sold car in the world, but GM still sells more total vehicles than Toyota.

[QtheHero]

01:19 PM on 04/27/2012

I just bought a Samsung Galaxy. I understand when I learn to use it, I will probably love it. I'll let you know in a few months. I'm in no hurry to learn how to use the thing.

[jsgaetano]

01:12 PM on 04/27/2012

Now we see why Apple is so desperate to win in the courts, rather than the marketplace.

[JadedAggie]

01:58 PM on 04/29/2012

These are worldwide numbers and apple only makes high end phones. The fact Apple still accounts for 9.5% is rather shocking to be honest.

[Jared Jentzsch]

01:05 PM on 04/27/2012

It's not Fin for the Finns. (come on, I had to say it)

[Mauryan]

12:56 PM on 04/27/2012

I will call Samsung a winner only if it opens up a new avenue in electronics with a technological product that no other company came up with or succeded before. In the US, there have been technological gate openers who either opened up entirely new avenues or set new levels. Samsung just makes more of the same with modifications to it after someone else has pioneered it. Samsung can sell more and I wouldn't call that as winning. Google made the Android. Microsoft made the Windows 8. Apple made the real smartphone. Intel makes the microprocessors needed for the PCs. I am trying hard to see what Samsung made uniquely that created a new market. None. Samsung just floods the market. That is hardly anything. Even Sony has a many products to its credit - the Betamax, Walkman, Blue Ray DVD are some of the outstanding achievements. No Samsung is not a winner. It is a follower. It reminds me of a student who byhearts every page in a book written by a creative author and is able to regurgitate it in an exam. Surely the grade will be A. But that student is not what I would rely on. I'd rely on someone who can write the next book.

[Barbarian At The Gate]

01:14 PM on 04/27/2012

Samsung is a founding member of the RVU Alliance. They are teaming up with Directv to allow "boxless" viewing on all of their 2012 smart TV's.

If you are not familiar with the technology:

Directv has a new product, the HR34 whole home DVR server. It has 5 TV tuners inside and can record multiple channels at the same time. Using a RVU enabled Samsung TV a consumer can watch the programming from another room without the need for another Directv Receiver.

Samsung may be the only TV maker with RVU enabled TV's as of the current time.

[JosephTX]

01:24 PM on 04/27/2012

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/technology/1203/gallery.wild-inventions/index.html

Samsung's also involved in the manufacturing of lots of computer hardware. Who do you think makes the screens, hard drives, and various other parts for Apple? You know, the guys who made the "real" smartphone (except it wasn't the first, and iOS can barely be considered an OS compared to Android of Windows Phone 7).

also, learn to hit Enter once in a while.

[Mauryan]

01:53 PM on 04/27/2012

And Samsung invented any of it? PC technology was developed by Apple and other American companies. Samsung makes various parts for many customers like Apple. That makes them a vendor like Foxconn and nothing else. Can you show me what new line of business Samsung opened up like Apple or Google or IBM did? The Winchester Hard Drive was invented and developed by IBM. Most semiconductor processes and equipment to make them were developed by the pioneers in the USA and Europe and to some extent in Japan. Name one that Samsung came up with. You need to know the difference between a vendor and a business creator. Sometimes vendors pick up the technology and slightly improvize on it. On their own they have no capability to open new frontiers. Samsung with all the money and clout it has is expected to be a trendsetter like the giant American comapnies. I can tell you, it is not.

[k-watanabe]

12:50 PM on 04/27/2012

Apple Rival #1 takes over the lead from Apple Rival #2...

[mlambush]

01:05 PM on 04/27/2012

LOL. Yes, in true HuffPo style

[jsgaetano]

01:14 PM on 04/27/2012

Now we see why Apple is so desperate to win in the courts rather than the marketplace. Apple doesn't want their derivative "innovation" to lose out to someone else's derivative "innovation".

[soundping]

12:42 PM on 04/27/2012

I really like my HTC Amaze.

[sensimilla]

01:38 PM on 04/27/2012

i've been rocking the htc sensation, love it!

now when is ics ready via tmobile???

[zfire]

04:35 PM on 04/27/2012

I agree. Also you can root your phone and install the ics pyramid update from htc Europe. The only thing that doesnt work is the Amazon mp3 store as it shows up in lbs but I use google play now neways.

[CrimsonIdol]

08:15 AM on 04/30/2012

When is ice cream sandwich ready for t-mobile? In about 4-5 more years, strange isn't it? Android steals their "ideas" from Apple but can't make the "best" os compatible with every droid out there?

[Litho-stone]

02:12 PM on 04/27/2012

I love my HTC Rezound!
Still waiting for that ice cream sammich tho.

[CrimsonIdol]

08:17 AM on 04/30/2012

You'll have to go buy a new droid if you want ICS, unless you want to wait years for ICS to be available on your "new" phone now.

[ResearchtheFacts]

12:41 PM on 04/27/2012

I have Samsung products and the few times I have called, the people speak English--American English. I was in shock. They are number because they offer more than one model. That's the key consumers want variety. Haven't had any operational issues just wanted additional info about the product. Most times you do get routed to the tech support dept. Customer service is pretty good. Not what I expected and no perpetual menu ops and lengthy holds before you reach someone.

[Barbarian At The Gate]

12:59 PM on 04/27/2012

You are spot on. Apple's problems with the iPad 4G not working in Europe and New Zealand is because the product is designed and manufactured with only North American frequencies for 4G.

[Dan Pierce]

01:58 PM on 04/27/2012

Not sure about New Zealand, but the reason it isn't working in Europe is they are behind America in rolling out 4G networks:
http://gigaom.com/2011/09/02/why-is-europes-4g-rollout-so-painfully-slow/

[Flight]

12:00 PM on 04/27/2012

Still loving my new Nokia Lumia 900. Kudos to Nokia for quick identification of the glitch 2 days after it came out and then issuing a credit making the phone FREE -- Apple and/or Samsung has never, and probably never will, do that. The fix was a download made available within 3 days...that's customer service!!

[Afterschool Carl]

01:14 PM on 04/27/2012

Yeah, I got one on a whim. Have owned Apple, Samsung, and HTC in the past.

Talk about a surprise - Windows Phone is shockingly good. Fast, fast, fast. I'm not just talking about download speeds - all of the screens are the fastest of any phone I've tried. I'm hooked.

[elicourey]

02:57 PM on 04/27/2012

you are correct, Apple and Samsung would never release a phone with a problem in the first place.

[Ash G]

03:11 PM on 04/27/2012

Because, according to Apple, even a problem with their product is not a problem.

[zfire]

04:36 PM on 04/27/2012

Right, because you should have to hold a phone at an angle and look East to make a phone call with any phone. Never mind the Ipad 3 glitches. Are they sending you a check for all this bs?

[StopMakingSense2]

11:59 AM on 04/27/2012

Samsung is the new Sony and sells far more product than Apple. Doesn't mean every product is a winner but they seem to be meeting consumer desires better than most! I'm planning on getting a GallaxyS2 soon. The S3 is a bit better but too big like the Note. Take a look at what happens to the IPhone4 when you drop it vs the Gallaxy S2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw not pretty. Apple's too cheap to use gorilla glass!

[Shikamaru]

12:38 PM on 04/27/2012

"GallaxyS2 soon. "


I've got one... I upgraded from the G1.... it's a nice a phone.

[buddhistMonkey]

12:50 PM on 04/27/2012

((( "Apple's too cheap to use gorilla glass!" )))

Apple has been using Gorilla Glass since the first iPhone. In fact, Gorilla Glass exists today as a consumer product because Steve Jobs approached the CEO of Corning about mass-producing a highly durable touch screen for a new consumer product that turned out to be the original iPhone:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla_glass

[Barbarian At The Gate]

01:03 PM on 04/27/2012

Yes, I read that Gorilla Glass became economically feasible for portable devices because of the demands of Apple. Corning used to make the glass in the USA but they moved a facility to China to be closer to where all the final products are made. That is an example of why manufacturing jobs would most likely stay in Asia. Everyone else is still there.

[mlambush]

01:31 PM on 04/27/2012

According to that link, the first iPhone was the only one to use Gorilla glass, Maybe StopMakingSense was right....

[p mersault]

11:48 AM on 04/27/2012

It's not very surprising that samsung and apple are both doing well given that they both make quality hardware. They proved what seems to be obvious: people will pay a premium for quality. People are starting to wise up to the junkiness of the old standard bearers (nokia, dell, hp, etc). Enough with the cheap plastic crap, make something good that lasts.