Samsung Leads Smartphone Sector

Korean giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. continued to lead the global smartphone market by shipping 43 million devices during the first calendar quarter of 2012, according to ABI Research. (See Samsung Galaxy S III Hits India, Samsung Launches The HOPE Project and Samsung Launches Dual-SIM Smartphones.)

Samsung commanded 30 percent of the global smartphone market during the three months to the end of March, followed by Apple Inc., which garnered a 25 percent market share by shipping 35 million units. (See Apple Unveils iPad3 In India and Apple's Uninspiring Play On Indian Pitch.)

In total, 144.6 smartphones were shipped in the first quarter, a 41 percent increase compared with a year earlier. ments for the quarter grew 41 percent year-over-year reaching 144.6 million units.

The news was not so good for third-placed Nokia Corp., though. Its smartphone shipments declined by 40 percent compared with the final quarter of 2011 to just 11.9 million units. (See Nokia's 41-MP Phone Arrives In India, Is Nokia 808 PureView Worth A Pick? and Nokia: Will There Be A Comeback?)

"At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000 percent in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments," stated senior analyst Michael Morgan in an ABI Research press release.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) is also in decline. It registered a 20 percent sequential decline to ship just 11.9 smartphones during the first quarter. {See What RIM Really Needs, RIM Outlines Strategy For Growth and RIM Launches BlackBerry Curve 9320 In India.)

The news is yet another feather in the cap for Samsung, which replaced Nokia earlier this year as the world's number one mobile phone maker. (See .)

For Nokia, the news just seems to get worse each day. (See Nokia's Rating At Stake: Fitch and .)

Rimit Singh, Correspondent, Light Reading India