Nokia's Long Reign At Top Of Cell Phone Food Chain Coming To An End
June 13, 2011
By the end of June, Samsung and Apple will leapfrog Nokia to become the world's No. 1 and No. 2 smartphone makers, respectively. This estimation comes from Japanese research firm Nomura and was first reported by 9 To 5 Mac.
During the first quarter of 2011, 18.7 (million) iPhones were shipped, which makes Apple's the world’s second-largest smartphone vendor, according to IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. This compares to 24.2 by Nokia, 13.9 by Research In Motion, and 10.8 million by Samsung.
According to Nomura, however, things are about to change.
They state:
“Nokia looks set to relinquish its smartphone crown (in unit terms) to Samsung and Apple”.In other words, by July, Nokia will be No. 3 with Samsung (No.1) and Apple (No. 2) in the Top 2 spots. In the overall handset market (which includes smart and “dumb” phones), Nokia shipped 108.5 units in the first quarter, followed by Samsung (70), LG Electronics (24.5), and Apple (18.7). Samsung is expected to leapfrog Nokia in this market as well, which will be big news when it happens. After all, Nokia has been the largest producer of cell phones since 1996. What do you think? Leave your comments below.