brand in 2012, according to iHS iSuppli research. Samsung had
overtaken Nokia inoverall cellphone shipments in the first quarter of
2012 for the first time in 14 years and continued with its strong
performance through the year. This is the first time since 1998 that
Nokia is not the numero uno cellphone brand atthe end of the year,
with 2012 being the tipping point for smartphone sales as they
accounted for nearly half the sales.
Nokia stumbled in its smartphonestrategy while Samsung built a
complete smartphone portfolio this year, consistently estimated to
sell over 50 million smartphones a quarter. Samsung also significantly
widened the gap with Apple in the smartphone space with a dozens of
low, mid and high-end smartphones running on Android.
According to the report, Samsung now accounts for 29 percent of global
cellphone shipments as against Nokia's 24 percent. In 2011, Nokia led
the space with a 30 percent market share as opposed to Samsung's 24
percent. Inour view, the number would have been even lower had it not
been for Nokia's Asha series of smart feature phones. Nokia shipped
6.5 million unitsof its Asha phones last quarter. Nokia's loss also
translated into Apple's gainas it accounted for 10 percent of global
cellphone shipments against 7 percentlast year. ZTE and LG complete
the top five cellphone brands for 2012.
In the smartphone space, Samsung again leads the pack with 28 percent
of the market share followed by Apple at 20 percent. Nokia, RIM and
HTC complete the top five with 5 percent market share each.