Nokia yesterday announced that they during the first quarter of 2012 sold around 83 million mobile phones, 12 million smart phones and 71 million feature phones. Analysts calculate that Samsung now, been the number two for a long time now in the worldwide market share,the sold in that same quarter between 85 and 90 million mobile phones.
If those calculations are correct then the Korean manufacturer is for the first time in its existence the largest mobile phone supplier of the world.
Nokia saw its sales of the first quarter sinking deeper than ever. Compared with the previous year (Q1 2011) the Finns sold over 35 million units less. This decrease was mainly due to a further decrease in the number of the sold Symbian smartphones, coupled with the still limited success of the new Windows Phone (Lumia) models.
Samsung's sales grew by contrast, compared to Q1 in 2011, with 15 to 20 million devices, depending on which prediction (85 – 90 million) comes out. The Korean manufacturer has yet to present its quarterly results. The same goes for the final results of Nokia for the first quarter of 2012. Anyway, Samsung has overtaken Nokia . Now wait and see whether the Koreans will eat Nokia 😉
However, what is more important than to be number 1 in the world, is money. The past 14 years Nokia was the undisputed number 1, but since some quarters the Finns lead heavy losses. That number 1 position was so, in a financial point of view, not worth so much. Samsung earned for quite some time (good) money by selling, in particular smartphones.
The first chart below shows why. The relationship between smart and feature phones at Samsung is almost 50-50, while Nokia's device sales now consist more than 80% of feature phones (cheap, often loss-making devices). The shift of this ratio to the level of Samsung (and it is undoubtedly) THE spearhead for the next few months (and years) or it will never be okay with the Finns.
