Samsung Reportedly Dethrones Apple as Top Smartphone Vendor in Q3 2011

samsung logoJust one quarter after it took the title of world's largest smartphone manufacturer, Apple has apparently been dethroned by Samsung, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Samsung Electronics Co. shipped more than 20 million smartphones in the quarter ended Sept. 30, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday, beating market leader Apple Inc. as well as Nokia Corp., the world's biggest cellphone maker by volume.

The South Korean company benefited from a push into the high end; demand is robust for phones that consumers can use to watch videos, download movies and send email. The company is also taking advantage of the popularity of Google Inc.'s Android operating system, while also stepping up production in Europe of phones using its own software and software from Microsoft Corp.

The comparison is a bit fuzzy as Samsung earlier this year halted public disclosure of its smartphone sales numbers, forcing observers to rely on unofficial sources and industry analysis.

Several observers have also noted that Samsung's number refers to shipments while Apple's refers to sales, although those metrics may not be vastly different. Apple's "sales" numbers actually refer to sales into the distribution channel rather than end users, and Apple noted during its earnings conference call that channel inventory had declined by 180,000 units quarter-to-quarter. That decline meant that actually sold approximately 17.25 million units to end users, compared to 17.07 million units delivered into the channel.

With Samsung apparently pushing over 20 million units into the channel last quarter, the company would have had to have significantly increased its channel inventory of devices still on store shelves in order to have not surpassed Apple even in sales to end users. Unlike the tablet market where Apple's competitors have flooded the market with shipments that have not been sold to end users, the smartphone market is established enough that channel inventories should be relatively stable and sell-through numbers should be relatively close to sell-in numbers.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...

Top Rated Comments

DMVillain Avatar
176 months ago
I would hope so.... At this point Apple hadn't put out a phone in 16 months.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
troop231 Avatar
176 months ago
Quality > Quantity
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
176 months ago
Whatever - people will rationalize it all they want. If Apple sold more - they'd be praising Apple. Instead they are slighting Samsung.

Does anyone REALLY care either way? How does it affect you personally? Enjoy whatever phone you have.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blyan Avatar
176 months ago
Uhh, yeah, kind of a no-brainer here. Q4 2011 ended before the 4S launch, so of course sales were way down. Everyone knew a new phone was imminent and so they held off. Not exactly shocking news.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChrisTX Avatar
176 months ago
People can, and will most likely speculate all they want. But the real reason here is the delay of the iPhone 4S. Q4 will tell a much different story.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oletros Avatar
176 months ago
I like watching peopple bashing one company when they had praised another one for the same exactly reason.

Ones praise Apple and bashh Samsung, others bash Apple and praise Samsung.

If they have stock in one I would understand it, but if they doesn't, I can't understand this "religious" positioning
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)