With the announcement of its next Galaxy S device just around the corner, it’s now become official record that Samsung has trumped fierce rival Apple to claim number one spot in terms of smartphone market share.
Apple’s iPhone has dominated hitherto, but the IDC has released shipment figures which suggest Samsung has leapfrogged its arch nemesis become the world’s foremost smartphone manufacturer in terms market share, for Q1 2012.
While Apple impressed us with 35.1 million iPhone units shipped, it was trumped by a colossal 42.2 million shipped by the Korean consumer electronics giant in the first quarter of this year. Thus, Samsung’s Android contingency now boasts nearly a third of the market at 29.1 percent, while Tim Cook’s company commands 24.2 percent share of the market.
Meanwhile, once-domineering Finnish company Nokia could only muster a paltry 11.9 million total shipments, leaving it languishing in third place with an 8.2 percent market share.
Strangely enough, it’s the first time the report has pitted Samsung ahead of Nokia – and with 30 million more units shipped in total, it’s completed the feat in some style.
As is normally the case with such reports, results can vary depending on which numbers firm you decide to pay attention to. IHS iSuppli and Strategy Analytics placed Apple as marginally ahead of Samsung in terms of units shipped in Q1, and that info was only released four days ago.
Nonetheless, the news will be music to the ears of Samsung, and will no doubt push more weight behind the release of the next Galaxy device which, for argument’s sake, we’ll presume to be called the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Said to feature a 1080p full HD display, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor as well as a slick ceramic encasing, it’s the device nobody can wait to see. The grand unveiling is set to take place in London in just two days’ time, and with leaked images supposedly depicting the device still continuing to surface, it will be a great relief to put the rumor mill on ice.
If the specs rumored turn out to be true, we’ll undoubtedly be in for a treat, and this year’s most anticipated Android smartphone will finally be unwrapped on May 3rd.
Excited? We certainly are; and we’ll be covering every moment of the event here at Redmond Pie, so stay tuned!
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web.
