Samsung is leading the smartphone market and has widened its lead over Apple in terms of mobile phone shipment in the second quarter, says IDC.
According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, while the Korean electronics giant currently has a clear win over Apple in the smartphone market, together the companies have more than doubled their global market share over the past two years.
Moreover, while the global mobile phone market grew only 1 percent year over year in the second quarter, Samsung and Apple shipped almost half of the world's smartphones, claims the IDC report.
Samsung shipped 50.2 million phones in Q2 and made a whopping 172.8 per cent increase from the 18.4 million smartphones it shipped in the same period in 2011. Currently the South Korean vendor enjoys the highest market share with 32.6 percent, which is almost double to Apple's 16.9 percent share. Samsung is taking advantage of Apple's delayed release of iPhone and has benefited from launching its flagship Galaxy S3 combined with the success of Galaxy Note.
"Samsung and Apple have quickly become the global smartphone heavyweights though both employ somewhat different approaches to the market," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "Samsung employs a 'shotgun' strategy wherein many models are created that cover a wide range of market segments. Apple, in contrast, offers a small number of high-profile models. While both companies have expanded their geographic presence in pursuit of market share, the two companies will inevitably come into greater conflict as both try to generate additional gains."
As per the report, Nokia is at the third position with its market share dropped from 15.4 percent of 2011 to 6.6 percent this year.
On the other hand, HTC, which is undergoing a trying phase, ranked at four with 24.1 percent to 8.8 million in the quarter. The Taiwanese company's market share fell from 10.7 percent in last year same quarter to 5.7 percent this year.
ZTE, with its 300 percent growth in Q2, is at the fifth position. It was the biggest jump for ZTE as it entered the top five smartphone manufacturers for the first time.
