SAMSUNG TAKES THE LEAD FROM APPLE

Tides are turning, with Samsung taking the lead from
Apple in global smartphone sales in the third quarter of
2012, according to a report released by Strategy
Analytics. Apple had taken the lead for the first time
in the second quarter, with an 18.5 percent share
that's now dropped to 14.6 percent. The Korean giant
in the meanwhile, has raked up a 23.8 percent share of
the marketin Q3 2011, growing from 17.5 percent
in Q2.
The two companies, who partner on various
components for iOS devices, have been in engaged in
litigation over smartphone design patents for a while
now, and their worldwide sales battle in this context of
countrywide sales disputes make for interesting times.
Nokia in the meanwhile, which still held on to a
respectable 15.2 percent in Q2, has dropped slightly to
14.4 percent. Overall, smartphone shipments have
grown 44 percent, indicating quite an increase in
consumer demand opposed to feature phones, reaching
a record of 117 million units shipped in the third
quarter. Of that stack, Samsung shipped 27.8 million
units, while Apple shipped 17.1 million units.