Nokia to be Dethroned by Samsung, Apple

GLOBAL – Samsung and Apple are going to overtake Nokia in terms of smartphone market leadership this quarter. Samsung will become the world’s largest smartphone maker this quarter, passing Nokia who had reigned in the smartphone category since 1996.

In the next quarter, Nomura predicts that Apple will push the Finnish giant to number three in the podium. Analysts from the research firm said that “Nokia looks set to relinquish its smartphone crown to Samsung and Apple, further emphasizing the shift in power to Asia is our forecast for HTC to almost match Nokia during 2012″.

Nokia, who created a niche market in the smartphone industry with the launch of the Communicator series, is losing ground as far as leadership is concerned. Analysts at Gartner believe that if Nokia smartphones are not well received by Q3, then Samsung would go on to become the world leader in smartphones.

Apple and Samsung have an upper-hand in this raging three way war, as Symbian is a dwindling platform and Nokia is already moving away from it. On the flip side, Nokia ships more cellphones than Samsung and Apple, and has a better stronghold in the entry and mid-level handset segment with better and superior marketshare in emerging markets.