For the first time in history, Samsung has surpassed Nokia’s mobile phone sales on the Finland market in the first quarter of this year, estimated Tuesday the market research firm IDC, as Finnish consumers preferred to buy smartphones, a trend that will continue in the coming years.
In 2012, the South Korean group Samsung Electronics Co. sold worldwide over 400 million mobile phones, ahead of Finnish group Nokia Corp., after becoming the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones. In the first three months of 2013, Samsung’s market share in Finland rose to 36 percent, ahead of Nokia, with a market share of 33 percent, and Apple, with a market share of 14 percent, while other manufacturers have a combined market share of 16 percent.
Nokia lost about 5 percentage points of market share in the first quarter of 2013, announced this month the research firm Gartner. Total sales of mobile phones increased by 0.7 percent in the first three months of this year, due to the demand for smartphones and increasing sales in the Asia Pacific which offset weaker developments in other areas.
Among the mobile phone manufacturers, South Korean group Samsung has maintained in the first quarter of 2013 a leading position with a market share of 23.6 percent, ahead of the Finnish company Nokia, with a market share of 14.8 percent and the American company Apple with a market share of 9 percent.
In the same period of 2012, Nokia had a market share of 19.7 percent. Although Nokia has recently launched a phone sold for €15 in an effort to strengthen its core mobile market, analysts believe that the long-term success of the company depends on smartphones due to higher profits and the fact that many consumers, including in emerging countries want to purchase smartphones. The sales success of the latest Lumia and Asha models is crucial for Nokia, who is trying to regain market share lost to rivals Samsung and Apple.
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