Samsung has a strong chance of overtaking Apple's Iphone this quarter

SELLER OF SHINY TOYS Apple might not be on top of the smartphone market in March, according to Strategy Analytics.

A day after Apple was installed as the leading smartphone vendor by Strategy Analytics, the firm told The INQUIRER that the ding-dong battle between Apple and Samsung will continue for a while. Scott Bicheno, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics told The INQUIRER that there is a good chance that Samsung will regain its top spot in the first quarter of 2012.

Yesterday Strategy Analytics published figures showing that Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2011, overtaking Samsung. The figures showed Apple edging out Samsung by 500,000 units with 37m units shipped.

Bicheno said, "We expect to see the smartphone number one spot being occupied by either Samsung or Apple for a few more quarters. Furthermore, the fact that Samsung got so close to Apple in what was an exceptional quarter for Iphone sales suggests Samsung has a strong chance of retaking the crown in Q1 2012."

That Apple and Samsung will battle it out for top position is not all that surprising given the disasterous year suffered by LG, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. However if Samsung can regain its top-spot from Apple it will show that the company is a serious, long term challenger.

Strategy Analytics' figures for fourth quarter 2011 shipments highlighted just how bad things are at Nokia, with the outfit claiming Nokia shipped 19.6m units, down almost 9m from the same period a year previously. As for global market share, Nokia almost made Research in Motion look successful, showing a drop of 15.5 per cent to 12.6 per cent.

When asked whether the many lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were having an effect on actual sales, Bicheno didn't seem to think so.

"We have seen little evidence of the lawsuits affecting retail sales - as our latest smartphone figures imply. So far the impact of any minor legal defeats has been minimal and we haven't seen the kinds of blanket sales bans litigants have been aiming for. That could change at any time, of course, and the only thing that does seem certain is that it will be another busy year for the patent lawyers," said Bicheno.

Bicheno's comments suggest that Apple's legal battles to get countries to ban the import and sale of certain Samsung devices are seeing little effect. Perhaps this could encourage firms to stop fighting in the courts but, as Bicheno suggested, that seems unlikely. µ