The next contender: Samsung, whose Android phones are gaining fast
The companies that track mobile phone sales are just now catching up to the news that came out of Apple’s (AAPL) last week. According to the company’s Q3 earnings report, Apple sold nearly 20.24 million iPhones last quarter, up 142% from the same quarter last year.
- On Thursday, IDC reported that that makes Apple the world’s No. 4 manufacturer of all mobile phones — smart and dumb — after Nokia (NOK), Samsung and LG.
- A few hours later, Strategy Analytics issued a report showing that Apple had, for the first time, overtaken Nokia in the worldwide market for smartphones, although Samsung, whose smartphone sales grew 520%, is gaining fast.
- On Monday, Canalys is scheduled to issue its own smartphone market share report, although the results could leak out earlier as it is offering one-on-one briefings to the tech press on Friday.
- Earlier this week, Nielsen reported that despite the market share gains racked up by Google (GOOG) Android phones, Apple is still the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. with a 28% share.