Apple Tops Nokia to Become World's Top Smartphone Vendor

[MacRumors]

As noted by the Financial Times, Apple has officially passed Nokia to become the world's top smartphone vendor. Apple's rapid growth paired with a sharp drop in shipments for Nokia allowed Apple to turn a 5.5 million unit deficit during the first quarter into a 3.6 million unit lead in the second quarter.

Shipments of Nokia smartphones declined by 34 per cent to 16.7m units, compared with the 20.3m iPhones shipped by Apple in its second quarter.

Apple was already the biggest smartphone maker by revenue and profits, but the April-June period marked the first time it had surpassed Nokia in volume.

Apple has been climbing the rankings of top smartphone vendors as longtime leaders Nokia and Research in Motion have faded. Apple passed Research in Motion in global shipments back in the third quarter of last year, and rapidly closed the gap on Nokia to claim the lead this past quarter.




Apple has of course faced stiff competition from Android over the last couple of years, but with dozens of manufacturers pushing out Android devices, no single vendor has been able to approach Apple's shipment volumes. Samsung and HTC lead the Android pack and have experienced very strong growth, but each company's smartphone shipments remains about half that of Apple's.

Article Link: Apple Tops Nokia to Become World's Top Smartphone Vendor

 

[iSmac]

No surprise there!

 

[S.Jobs]

well nokia is a dying brand, the only thing that might save them is Windows Phone 7, which I do see some people using those phones in public, but nokia doesnt have that type of phone out yet.

 

[TheOrioles33]

That was inevitable. I havent seen a Nokia phone in the wild in years!

 

[talkingfuture]

Thats an impressive achievement from being total novices a few years back. Well done Apple.

 

[conch575]

Knew it was coming.. Nokia never seemed to "get it right".

 

[nylonsteel]

Well done aapl - you deserve #1 spot
Nokia's symbian os is a joke

 

[applesith]

Your favs can't even.

 

[chatfan]

Good for them, still curious to see what windows mobile is going to do for Nokia

 

[JetBlack7]

Nokia? Down.

Next target? Samsung + Android.

 

[gnasher729]

Taking the numbers, this is more due to Nokia than to Apple. Nokia managed to drop even below Apple's last quarter numbers, while Apple didn't _quite_ manage to get Nokia's numbers for the quarter before.

Nokia? Down.

Next target? Samsung + Android.

I think you are looking in the wrong direction. Samsung is behind Apple in smartphone sales, and Android is not a manufacturer.

 

[Certinfy]

It was always coming. Now the real question is can Nokia hit back with WP7.

 

[ichaddy]

Looks like someones gonna have to change their Google meta description!!

Nokia - Nokia on the Web
http://www.nokia.com/ - Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services

 

[whooleytoo]

As an ex-Nokia user, I find this quite sad. Nokia used to be way out ahead of the crowd in usability and UI design; but they dithered away their lead over many years, being unable to commit decisively to any response to iOS (and then Android) and are suffering badly as a result.

And as for their marriage with the devil - if Microsoft's history is anything to go by - Microsoft will leave with whatever technical gems Nokia has left; while Nokia will be left a dried-out husk.

On another note, it's almost scary how big Apple are becoming; and how influential they are in so many markets. They're now the second biggest company by market cap and could well be the biggest within 1-2 quarters. Great for them, scary for other PC, tablet, phone, music player manufacturers; OS developer, music retailer, video retailer etc..etc..

 

[deadlystriker]

Not surprising. Can't believe people still buy nokia. Those I know who own nokia handsets tend to have the very old ones

 

[pjhamill]

It was always coming. Now the real question is can Nokia hit back with WP7.

I think so.

 

[Uninen]

I graphed Apple vs Nokia results

I compared Nokias result to Apples. This is what they look like:

http://www.unessa.net/en/hoyci/2011/07/apple-nokia-q2-2011/

 

[Digitalclips]

I think so.

I wouldn't want to take a bet on that

 

[NebulaClash]

Apple's original goal was 1% of the market with 10 million units sold as a target for 2008. Now Apple sells 20 million in a quarter and is the biggest smart phone manufacturer by volume and revenue and profit.

I think people forget that Apple started with modest goals. They seem to think that if Apple isn't number 1 in any metric it's a massive fail for them. Shows you how expectations have changed since 2007.

 

[dlimes13]

This was bound to happen, and it's awesome!

 

[TNTN]

Impressive considering they essentially sell only one model of phone.

 

[ghost187]

If Apple phases out the iPod Touch and makes a $299 iPhone, Android is dead over night. Yes, we the high end electronic demanding people won't be happy but, everyone else will. Motorola Triumph is $299 with identical specs compared to the iPhone 4 without contract. Imagine Apple only updating the processor, and leaving everything else the same, maybe making it a world phone. Imagine walking into an apple store and buying an iPhone 5 for 299 unlocked. Sales would be 10 fold. Remember what happen when Apple dropped the price of the iPhone when 3G came out. They can do the same thing again. It only cost them $170 to make the iPhone 4 (verizon). It is possible people, think about it.

 

[spiderman0616]

My first 3 cell phones I ever owned were Nokia. It was the brand to have back in the day. This is sad. I'm a huge iPhone addict now, but I can't believe the way Nokia has slipped in recent years. They just didn't change with the times. I can't remember the last time I saw a Nokia phone out in the wild--I usually only see them in blatant product placements in movies.

 

[KnightWRX]

I think you are looking in the wrong direction. Samsung is behind Apple in smartphone sales, and Android is not a manufacturer.

Though the thing is the game has changed. Apple changed it. It's now not a battle of devices, but a battle of eco-systems. This is what Apple changed for the industry.

And you know what ? In the battle for eco-systems, Apple can sell as many devices as they like, other eco-systems are bigger and growing faster.

In the end, who cares. There's plenty of eyes for everyone to profit off of. Nokia killed itself with the Elop move and basically telling their users that if they bought Nokia devices right now, they were buying into a dead eco-system.

 

[Jwhitehead333]

Nokia released there first mobile phone in 1971 (A car based mobile phone)
Apple released there first mobile phone in 2007. (The iPhone)

Thats a big head start to Nokia.
Well done Apple!