Samsung has shipped 22% (24.9 million) of 115 million smartphones, compared with Apple‘s 15% during third quarter, as per the data from mobile analyst firm Juniper Research.
Taiwan-based HTC has doubled its shipments year-on-year in Q3 to 13.2 million overtaking Blackberry-maker RIM (11.9 million, down 8% y-o-y).
Meanwhile, Nokia‘s shipments improved quarter on quarter, after two successive declines. And with the Finnish company’s first Windows Phone 7 handset coming out, things may be looking up for Nokia.
In Q3 the company shipped 16.8 million smartphones, up slightly from the 16.7 million in Q2.
However, with Apple’s iPhone 4S selling 4 million in the first three days, Samsung will have to pull-out all the stops to keep the California-based company from re-taking top spot.
Juniper Research research analyst Daniel Ashdown said while the 4S is essentially an iPhone 4 with hardware upgrades, Siri is going to be a killer app for Apple.
"And the continuation of the iPhone 4 and 3GS in effect positions the company’s handsets at a range of price points, without losing their premium image," Ashdown said.
