We’ve been saying for a while now that Samsung is primed and ready to dethrone Nokia from its nearly 15 year reign as the top smartphone maker in the world, and it would seem the moment is upon us. We can’t say for sure, as Samsung hasn’t released official numbers, but research firm Strategy Analytics told Bloomberg that Samsung’s official sales numbers should fall between 18 million and 21 million units sold worldwide.
Should Samsung pull in upwards of 20.3 million units sold, the South Korea-based company will also trump Apple’s quarterly iPhone sales. Samsung is expected to take a 20 percent market share, while Nokia’s feature phone division has kept the Finnish phone maker out front with a 26 percent share.
“Samsung’s Android portfolio is selling strongly in most regions,” said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. “Samsung stands a reasonable chance of capturing the top spot on a quarterly basis if it can continue expanding its Android portfolio across high-growth markets like China and Brazil. Samsung and Apple will be at similar levels in smartphones by the end of the year.”
Samsung also makes and sells “dumb phones” that run Bada OS, which of course contributes to these impressive quarterly estimates. However, talk of Samsung’s recent success can’t go much further without mention of the Galaxy S II, which sold over 3 million units in its first 55 days. That’s one Galaxy S II sold every 1.5 seconds. According to analysts, the S II actually doubled Samsung’s mobile operating profit in the second quarter, and still has yet to launch in the U.S.
Samsung’s flagship (the SGSII) is expected to launch on American soil in August, while Apple is expected to debut the next iPhone in September. Both phones should heat up the race nicely, as the Android vs. iOS battle rages on.
[via Android Community]