The top makers of phones and smartphones in the world have shifted according to preliminary data, from the IDC Mobile Phone Tracker. ZTE and Huawei have made it to the top five in Q4 2012 smartphone vendors. Samsung topped the charts like it did in the United Sates for best smartphones.
219.4 million smartphones were shipped in 4Q12, which is 45.5% of all mobile phone shipments, the highest percentage ever.
Samsung's Galaxy-branded Android family, combined with sustained demand for its mid-range and entry-level models account for the remarkable shipment volumes. 2013 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the Samsung which topped the smartphone and phone list.
Samsung became the market smartphone leader shipping 63.7 million smartphones with a 76% year-over-year change. Apple came in second place(47.8m) with and Huawei (10.8m)overtook LG as number 3, noted Kevin Restivo with IDC. Sony came in fourth place(9.8m) and ZTE(9.5m) came in fifth.
Apple's record iPhone shipments in the quarter were driven by doubled shipments to Greater China and sales of older models especially the iPhone 4 which Apple couldn't make enough of in the quarter.
Huawei's rise is attributed to the Ascend line. Sony's entertainment added value to its high-end smartphones. ZTE continued international diversification efforts.
World mobile phone vendors show a slightly different ranking in the fourth quarter of 2012. For mobile phone vendors Samsung came in first with 111.2 million units followed by Nokia (86.3m), third place Apple ( 47.8m), ZTE (17.6m) and Huawei (15.8m).
The top five vendors for entire 2012 showed a different top five (units in millions).
- Samsung 215.8.
- Apple 136.8.
- Nokia 35.1
- HTC 32.6
- RIM 32.5.
The top five mobile phone vendors for the entire year 2012 (units in millions).
- Samsung 406.0
- Nokia 335.6
- Apple 136.8
- ZTE 65.0
- LG 55.9