26 October 2012

Samsung captures record 35% share of 162 million smartphone shipments in Q3

Global smartphone shipments grew 34.8% annually from 120 million units in third-quarter 2011 to 161.7 million units in third-quarter 2012, according to the report ‘Global Smartphone Shipments Reach 162 Million Units in Q3 2012’ from the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service. Samsung achieved a record 35% market share. Apple held second position, while Nokia slipped outside the top three in the rankings.

“The 35% growth rate was relatively soft, as a volatile global economy and maturing penetration of smartphones among contract mobile subscribers continued to moderate demand,” comments Strategy Analytics’ associate director Alex Spektor.

Samsung shipped 56.9 million smartphones worldwide and captured a record 35.2% market share in Q3/2012, more than doubling from 28.1 million units (23.4% market share) in Q3/2011. “This was the largest number of units ever shipped by a smartphone vendor in a single quarter,” says executive director Neil Mawston. “Despite tough competition in stores and courtrooms, Samsung continued to deliver numerous hit models, from the high-end Galaxy Note phablet to the mass-market Galaxy Y,” he adds. Apple grew a healthy 57% annually and shipped 26.9 million smartphones worldwide for 16.6% market share, up from 14.3% (17.1 million units) a year ago. “Apple had a solid quarter in the important US market and this helped to strengthen its global performance,” Mawston notes. 

Samsung and Apple combined now account for over half of all smartphones shipped worldwide, up from around one-third a year ago. “Volumes have polarized around those two brands,” remarks senior analyst Neil Shah. “The growth of Samsung and Apple has continued to impact Nokia.” Nokia shipped 6.3 million smartphones worldwide (4% market share) in Q3/2012, dipping from 16.8 million units (14% share) in Q3/2011, and slipping outside the top three global smartphone rankings for the first time. “Nokia will need to ramp up sharply its Windows Phone volumes if it wants to recapture a top-three smartphone position in the next one to two quarters,” reckons Shah.

Tags: Smartphone shipments

Visit: www.strategyanalytics.com