New report from Strategy Analytics shed some light on the global handset market in 2011.  According to the report, comparing the smartphone sales in Q4 2011, Apple came out with a strong Q4 2011 with 37 million iPhones shipped with 23.9 percent of the market.  Samsung came in second with 36.5 million smartphones and 23.5 percent market share.  Nokia was the second runner up in Q4 2011 with 19.6 million smartphones resulting in 12.6 percent market share.

The story takes a u-turn when we look at the global handset (smartphone and feature phones) shipments in 2011.  Nokia tops the charts for global handset shipments with 417.1 million handsets shipped in 2011 making up 26.9 percent of the market.  Samsung was second with 327.4 million units shipped translating to 23.1 percent market share.  Apple shipments accounted for 93 million units shipped in 2011.

This is expected as Nokia has very strong presence around the world with their solid manufacturer and supplier relations.  Tom Kang, the director of Strategy Analytics had the following to say about Nokia, “Nokia’s global smartphone market share halved from 33 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2011. A lackluster touchscreen smartphone portfolio and a limited presence in the huge United States market caused Nokia’s shrinkage last year. Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft will be very much in focus during 2012, and the industry will be watching closely to see how swiftly the two companies can expand in the high-value 4G LTE market that is rapidly emerging across the United States, Japan and elsewhere.”

Give us your thoughts on these numbers and your predictions for the year of 2012.

Source: Strategy Analytics via Engadget