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Nokia loses top slot in handphones to Samsung in Jan-Mar: Gartner [Financial Express (India)](Financial Express (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Finnish mobile telephone maker Nokia lost its 14 years of global leadership in mobile phone sales to South Korean rival Samsung in the quarter between January and March, driven by smartphone sales. "Samsung sold 86.6 million units, 25.9% more from last year, clinching 20.7% market share ahead of the Finnish company's 19.8%," Gartner, a software and telecommunications research firm, said in the report released on Wednesday. However, global phone sales dipped 2% to 419.1 million for the first time after the second quarter of 2009. "This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market exhibited a decline," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. "India as a market sold 53 million handset devices and its smartphone sales have gone up by 34% on a year on year basis." "Samsung is executing its business strategy well," said Gupta. "They have not just focused well on their smartphone sales, but also created a good device portfolio in the high and low user segments." Moreover, Samsung sold more than 40% of the total Android-based smartphones in March 2012 quarter, while rivals did not have more than 10% market share in this segment. Worldwide, sales of smartphones continued to drive mobile device market growth, reaching 144.4 million units in the first quarter of 2012, up 44.7% year-over-year. "The decline in demand is because of the slowdown in the Asia Pacific region," Gupta said. "Lack of new product launches from leading manufacturers and users' delayed upgrades in the hope of better smartphone deals arriving later in the year were also a reason for a 20 million inventory," he added. Copyright 2012 The Indian Express Online Media Pvt. Ltd., distributed by Contify.com Credit: fe Bureau (c) 2012 The Indian Express Online Media Pvt. Ltd., distributed by Contify.com |