Published on the 31/10/2011 | Written by Newsdesk
Samsung has kicked Apple off the top of the heap as sales of Samsung electronics overtake those of former market-dominator Apple Inc…
According to figures published by research company Strategy Analytics, while Apple Inc. sold over 17.1 million iPhones in the last quarter, Samsung has streaked ahead, shipping 27.8 million smartphones globally in the third quarter of this year.
The result is, in part, due to the fact that Apple’s latest iPhone, the 4S, didn’t come out until the third quarter of 2011 ended, thus its sales are not included in the figure.
Nevertheless, the results mean that Samsung now has a 23.8 per cent share of the global smartphone market, ahead of Apple on 14.6 per cent.
Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement that “Apple’s growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung’s popular Galaxy S2 model.”
Senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, Alex Spektor, added that there are a number of factors behind the unusual result.
“Samsung’s rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution. Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem,” he said in a statement.
