Samsung surpasses Nokia as largest handset manufacturer
For the last 14 years, Nokia has been the king of the mobile phone market. No, their smartphones weren't what put them there, it was their too numerous to count feature phones that made them the largest handset maker in the world.
Of course, with the rise in smartphone adoption that was bound to change, and Samsung has now come out ahead in the smartphone revolution.
After the aforementioned 14 year streak, Nokia's sales in the first quarter of this year finally dropped below first place. Nokia sold 82.7 million handsets, while Samsung shipped a massive 93.5 million handsets, mostly driven by the Galaxy line.
This is significant for a number of reasons. First of all, it demonstrates the massive shift from feature phones to smartphones that has finally reached the average consumer. More importantly, though, it shows that while Samsung and Android are still taking off, Nokia and Windows Phone have a way to go. True, the flagship Lumia 900 just came out a few weeks ago, but this still shows that Nokia really isn't out of harms way yet. They have made a good start, but there is an uphill battle yet to be fought before Windows Phone and Nokia regain their popularity.
[Bloomberg]
