New data from Juniper Research shows that smartphone shipments for the first quarter of 2013 have reached almost 200 million units — 30% higher than the same time last year — with Samsung and Nokia largely benefiting from the increased sales momentum.
Samsung shipped an estimated 68 million smartphones and accounting for approximately 34% of all smartphone shipments in the quarter, attributed to a steady pace in Galaxy S III sales and improved Galaxy Note II sales for the quarter.
Nokia shipped 6.1 million smartphones in the fourth quarter and posted higher Lumia sales of 5.6 million compared to the previous quarter, a 27% rise. Windows Phone 8 sales have been increasing overall and Nokia has been the biggest benefactor in this sales increase.
Profits for Apple fell for the first time in a decade, with 37.4 million iPhone sales posted for the Cupertino-based company, which was actually 7% higher than Q1 2012. The strain caused by the lack of innovation can be felt by the company, however, so high hopes for the upcoming iPhone 6 / iPhone 5S include a rumored change to the entire UI.
LG also increased its market share thanks to sales of the Optimus G and Nexus 4, which pushed the company over 5%, while Huawei and ZTE accounted for an additional 10% of the market. BlackBerry sold 1 million BB10 devices.