Samsung beats Apple to the top spot by shipping 30 million smartphones
Figures released by Strategy Analytics show that Samsung has shipped 27.8 million smartphones in the third quarter, sending it straight to first place past Apple’s 17.1 million shipped units.
The numbers aren’t too surprising when taking into account people who waited for the iPhone 4S’s release, not to mention Samsung's much larger roster of phones – but it’s still an impressive display, especially in light of the ongoing legal battles between both companies.
Will Apple bounce back with impressive iPhone 4S sales? Will Samsung rake in all the chips with the Galaxy Nexus and Note? Either way, this Christmas looks set to be a bloody battlefield in the smartphone wars.
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Comments
Hugh Jarse
1 year ago
As you say It was the figures for the Quarter when everyone knew a new iPhone was coming so held of purchases.
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Also, there is an interesting piece by John Gruber on the difference between shipped units and sold units:
"Jim Dalrymple Calls Bull**** on Today’s Samsung Smartphone Numbers -
Remember back in July, when Samsung announced it would no longer reveal phone and tablet sales data? They’re still not revealing them, but that hasn’t stopped Strategy Analytics from declaring them the unit sales leader in smartphones. (And it’s another case of shipments-vs.-sales-to-customers.)
I’m not doubting, by the way, that Samsung sold more “smartphones” than Apple for the quarter. They’ve always sold more phones, period, and the industry is rapidly transitioning to one where nearly all new phones are going to be “smartphones”. The point is that an analyst’s estimate for Samsung’s sales numbers should not be reported as fact, nor should shipments be conflated with actual sales."
http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/10/28/the-bullshit-samsung-smartphone-numbers/