Nokia suffered further humiliation as IDC announced that in the first quarter of 2011 Samsung became the leading supplier of cell phones in Western Europe.
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Click here for a complete report on the global smartphone market in the first quarter. |
Samsung's sales in the region rose by 5 per cent, leading to its market share rising to 29 per cent, while Nokia's share in the quarter fell to 28 per cent after its handset sales slipped by 10 per cent.
Nokia has already lost its Western European leadership in the smartphone sector to Apple after Nokia's sales plunged to 20 per cent from over 40 per cent a year earlier.
In a statement carried by Reuters, IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said: "Nokia is one of the most recognised and appreciated brands in Europe, but Samsung was the one understanding the trends first and moving faster."
"These results show how volatile this market is and how important it is not to underestimate the trends," said the IDC analyst.
However, Nokia retained its worldwide smartphone leadership, according to IDC--but only by a narrow margin. Apple edged out BlackBerry maker Research In Motion to gain second place by selling 18.7 million iPhones in the quarter, providing it with an 18.7 per cent share of the 100 million smartphones sold globally in the quarter.
Nokia, meanwhile, saw its global first quarter share fall from 38.8 per cent to just 24.3 per cent. IDC also cautioned, as reported by Apple Insider, that "as Nokia transitions from Symbian to Windows Phone, it may find itself in danger of ceding market share as the competition ramps up smartphone production."
For more:
- see this release
- see this Reuters article
- see this Apple Insider article
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