Samsung Electronics Co, maker of the Galaxy mobile phone, may have surpassed Nokia Oyj and Apple Inc in smartphone sales for the first time on demand for devices that run on Android software, a research company said.
Samsung is estimated to have sold between 18 million and 21 million smartphones in the April-to-June quarter, compared with 16.7 million for Nokia and 20.3 million iPhones, Neil Mawston, a London-based analyst at research firm Strategy Analytics, said in an e-mailed response to questions on Friday.
The estimates show Google Inc’s Android is gaining ground on Apple in smartphones as Nokia, which is turning to Microsoft Corp for software support, struggles to keep up with the pace.
“Samsung’s Android portfolio is selling strongly in most regions,” Mawston said.
“Samsung stands a reasonable chance of capturing the top spot on a quarterly basis if it can continue expanding its Android portfolio across high-growth markets like China and Brazil. Samsung and Apple will be at similar levels in smartphones by the end of the year,” he added.
Including basic phones, Samsung will probably have a 20 percent share this year, compared with Nokia’s 26 percent, closing the gap between the world’s two largest handset makers to the narrowest ever, he said.
Samsung wasn’t immediately able to verify the figures, while Apple and Nokia declined to comment.
Samsung’s global smartphone sales lagged behind Nokia, Apple and Research in Motion in the first quarter, according to researcher International Data Corp.
However, the South Korean company’s sales have accelerated after it began selling the Galaxy S II, a successor to its best-selling Android device introduced last year to counter Apple.
The latest Galaxy handset went on sale last week in five cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai, as the company seeks to make a push into the world’s largest market for mobile phones.
The latest 4.27-inch Galaxy phone, unveiled in February, helped Samsung more than double operating profit at its mobile phone business in the second quarter, according to five analysts polled by Bloomberg News.
Apple reported net income that beat estimates on Tuesday last week, lifted by record sales of iPhones and iPads. In contrast, Nokia reported its first quarterly loss since 2009 as the Finnish company struggled to sell handsets based on its 10-year-old Symbian software.
Apple plans to introduce a new iPhone in September that boasts a stronger chip for processing data and a more advanced camera, two people familiar with the product said last month.
Apple sued Samsung in April, claiming the Galaxy products “slavishly” copied technologies and designs used in the iPad and iPhone.
The suit against Samsung added to its patent fights with Android-device makers, including Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc and HTC Corp (宏達電), with the Google software gaining market share.
Samsung is also tapping consumers looking for lower-priced models with devices using its own Bada software. It plans to introduce a new model based on the system in the second half of the year, J.K. Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile-phone division, said last Wednesday.
The debut of a new iPhone may slow the momentum for Samsung, Mawston said.
“Samsung will need to work hard to hold off that competitive threat,” he said.
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