A study conducted by research firm Strategy Analytics concluded that Apple had overtaken Samsung Electronics to become the largest smart phone maker worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2011.
While Apple sold 37m iPhones in Q4, its Korean rival Samsung managed to sell 36.5m smartphone handsets. This gave the Cupertino-based company marketshare of 23.9%, slightly higher than its South Korean rival which took 23.5%.
Samsung sold about half a million lesser smartphones, though the company does not explicitly declare its sales figures.
After losing top position in the market in the third quarter, Apple recovered in the fourth quarter, on the back of the iPhone 4S debut in Asian countries like China.
However, Samsung still happens to be the ‘world’s largest smartphone brand’ for the entire year of 2011, according to the market research firm IHS iSuppli report.
Nokia took the third position, as it shipped about 19.6m smartphones in the fourth quarter, followed by Sony Ericsson with 6m units and Motorola Mobility Holdings with 5m units.
Apple and Samsung are involved in various patent lawsuits worldwide, as Samsung was accused by its arch-rival of ‘slavishly’ copying the iPad design, while Apple was sued for violating telecommunications standards patents.
