Samsung reportedly beats Apple in smartphone shipments for Q3 2011

While Android has dominated the smartphone market in terms of market share, in terms of smartphones shipped, Apple has Android makers such as Samsung beat, at least until recently according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, Samsung managed to dethrone Apple during Q3 of 2011.

“Samsung Electronics Co. shipped more than 20 million smartphones in the quarter ended Sept. 30, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday, beating market leader Apple Inc. as well as Nokia Corp., the world’s biggest cellphone maker by volume.

The South Korean company benefited from a push into the high end; demand is robust for phones that consumers can use to watch videos, download movies and send email. The company is also taking advantage of the popularity of Google Inc.’s Android operating system, while also stepping up production in Europe of phones using its own software and software from Microsoft Corp.”

It is interesting to note that prior to this, Samsung has never really disclosed their smartphone shipping numbers before, but if this is indeed true, and that Samsung has managed to beat out Apple, one of their fiercest rivals, we guess it’s a good enough reason to boast about it.

For those wondering about how is different, especially since Samsung refers to shipments while Apple refers to sales, take note that Apple’s sales are actually referring to the sales to distribution channels, carriers for example, rather than directly to consumers. If we had to take a guess though as to why Samsung has Apple beat this time round, it could be the lack of an iPhone in the middle of the year as expected, which could have caused many iPhone users to jump ship to other brands and platforms.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Android, Apple Inc, iOS, sales, Samsung