Samsung takes top mobile phone sales in Q1

Samsung has surged into number one spot globally in handsets sold and perhaps more importantly, in smartphones, the latter being the future of mobile.

Despite Q4 2011 smartphone champ Apple’s iPhone range collaring the Cupertino Colossus a healthy 35.1 million units shipped in Q1 2012, it wasn’t enough to beat the efforts of its nemesis Samsung. The Korean company sold 42.2 million smartphones in Q1 2012, an impressive 267% increase over the same quarter last year. This compares more than favourably with Apple’s 88.7% increase year to year.

The smartphone market as a whole grew but 42.5% over the same period, suggesting that Samsung are on a roll, and this without the benefit of its highly anticipated, about to be released S3. In the circumstances, it’s difficult to imagine the iPhone range making any headway against the Samsung kit until the next model, Apple’s 6th generation phone, is launched as expected in October.

That’s a rather long time in the future in mobile tech terms and Apple seems destined to lose rather a lot of share until the benefits of that launch kick in during the final quarter of 2012.

Despite Apple having launched its iPhone 4S in additional markets this past quarter, especially with new carriers in the massive potential market of China, the tech giant actually sold fewer devices in Q1 2012 than it did in the last quarter of 2012, its best ever result. Apple’s generally lackluster performance in China, now the world’s largest mobile market, must be of mounting concern.

On the other hand, Samsung’s continued success from its diverse range of inexpensive to flagship-priced devices has shown that it has an effective formula for strong growth. Even those analysts who have criticized Samsung for its modest profitability in the mobile sector have been surprised by the company’s Q1 2012 earnings report, which showed huge gains in profitability year on year.

Not all has been sweetness and light in the mobile sector as the chart above shows – Nokia, RIM and HTC all suffered declines in share, and their future fortunes are far from rosy. New gear from all three OEM’s will perhaps improve their share and their prospects though. But right now, this seems like a long shot.

Source: IDC