Research firm IDC today released its estimates of global mobile phone and smartphone shipments for the first quarter 2012, revealing that Apple set a record high in taking 8.8% of the overall mobile phone market. The performance just barely topped Apple's 8.7% share in the previous quarter, which was the launch quarter for the iPhone 4S.
Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments in 1Q12 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Apple's year-over-year growth of 88% in an overall market which shrank by 1.5% enabled the iPhone maker to solidify its hold on third place in the overall mobile phone market behind Samsung and Nokia. Nokia had been the market leader for well over a decade, but Samsung surged into the lead for the first time during the quarter.
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 1Q12 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Looking at the narrower smartphone market, which now comprises 36% of the global mobile phone market, IDC pegs Apple in second place, with its 88% year-over-year growth easily topping the overall segment's growth of 42.5%. But Apple's growth was easily overshadowed by Samsung, which rode the strength of its portfolio of Android-based devices to year-over-year growth of 267% and the top spot in the smartphone rankings.
"The race between Apple and Samsung remained tight during the quarter, even as both companies posted growth in key areas," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends program. "Apple launched its popular iPhone 4S in additional key markets, most notably in China, and Samsung experienced continued success from its Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet and other Galaxy smartphones. With other companies in the midst of major strategic transitions, the contest between Apple and Samsung will bear close observation as hotly-anticipated new models are launched."
Samsung's shipment numbers suffer from significant uncertainty, however, as the company no longer releases official data on its sales for competitive reasons. Consequently, analysts have had to resort to rough estimates for Samsung's numbers, and IDC believes that Samsung registered 42.2 million smartphone shipments to easily top Apple's publicly-released number of 35.1 million units.
Research firm Strategy Analytics last week offered a similar estimate of Samsung's shipments at 44.5 million units for the quarter, but IHS iSuppli painted a very different picture with its estimate of only 32 million smartphone units for Samsung, which would have left Apple atop the rankings for the quarter.
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be.
The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison.
The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect.
As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
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 April 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 ...
Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you skipped the iPhone...
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes.
The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps.
In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner.
In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device.
Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
Thats because the others haven't implemented their own version of 'Apple Tax'
I love simplistic analysis.
No, it's because Apple isn't flooding the market with 50+ phones every year. They aim for one design with a couple variations in color and storage space and that's it. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out how that's a lot cheaper than Samsung's throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach.
Thats because the others haven't implemented their own version of 'Apple Tax'
That's because others don't have phones that aren't sold on price only.
Seriously, what is this "Apple Tax" supposed to be? Apple offers products for a price that they decide. Nobody forces anyone to pay that price. If Apple sells products then it is because people think they are worth it.
No, it's because Apple isn't flooding the market with 50+ phones every year. They aim for one design with a couple variations in color and storage space and that's it. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out how that's a lot cheaper than Samsung's throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach.
and how is that bad? its just a different approach, not everyone needs a 300 Euro phone. im not necessarily fond of android or the samsung plastic crap but that doesnt mean their business strategy is bad. they have their high budget Galaxy and nexus phones for tech freaks as well as low budget phones for people like my mother.
both apple and samsung make enough money so why should i even care anyway ^^ having options is GREAT
oh and the anticipation for the Galaxy S III announcement here in germany is HUGE. its covered everywhere even with so little details out. something i used to only see with future iPhone gossip
No, it's because Apple isn't flooding the market with 50+ phones every year. They aim for one design with a couple variations in color and storage space and that's it. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out how that's a lot cheaper than Samsung's throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach.
I love how often the availability of choice is somehow a bad thing on these forums.
Seems to be working great for Samsung btw. I bet the Android manufacturers love that Apple doesn't want to compete in LTE/4g, in larger screen sizes, in physical keyboards, in huge batteries, etc.
having used an android phone and got the 4s i have to say i prefer apples products over all these android systems. I am not really interested in who is the market leader what i am interested in is a product that works is simple to use and not to much mucking around to find things and how to turn things of.
