South Korea based Samsung Electronics has overtaken Nokia, the Finnish phone maker, for just the time since 1998 as the world’s top maker of phones for 2012. At year’s end, Samsung will account for close to 29% of all shipments of mobile phones across the globe. That is 8% higher than last year when the electronics giant had a market share of 21%. With their 21% last year, Samsung was second to Nokia.
The fastest growing segment of the mobile handset market is smartphones, as they now are nearly 50% of all wireless handset devices that are shipped. Global shipments of smartphones are expected to rise by more than 35% in 2012. Overall, cell phone shipments will only increases by about 1% however. Smartphone penetration for this year will be as high as 47%, up from the 2011 figure of 35%.
Samsung’s success has been in being able to design and manufacture their phones very quickly and this year has released dozens of the different models into the marketplace. Their devices, unlike those of Apple, range from the low budget devices right up to the expensive high-end devices. Apple only has one line of smartphone, the iPhone, and therefore cannot compete, as many consumers do not have the budget to purchase an iPhone.
This year it is predicted that Samsung will end with 29% of the market share, while Apple will finish in second place with 21% of the market. It is also expected that mobile handset penetration worldwide will reach 60% said computer experts, with smartphones leading the way.
