Skip to main content

Samsung obliterates its rivals, sells more phones than Apple, Nokia, and LG put together

samsung galaxy note 3 rear case
Image used with permission by copyright holder

We know Samsung sells plenty of phones and commands a serious amount of market share. However, the latest research from Strategy Analytics shows the just how much it’s obliterating the competition. Between July and September this year, Samsung sold 120 million phones around the world, enough to make it the clear leader, but cementing its colossal advantage is the fact it’s more than Nokia, Apple, and LG combined.

These three trail Samsung in the charts, selling 64 million, 33 million, and 18 million respectively, giving a total of 115 million phones sold. Huawei takes fifth position with 14 million phones sold globally. Add Huawei’s sales and you get more than Samsung’s total, but only just. It’s an amazing performance.

Samsung’s incredible tally gives it a 28 percent share of the global phone market, according to Strategy Analytics, up from 26 percent this time last year. Nokia trails with 15 percent, which is down from 21 percent last year. In third place it’s Apple, up from 7 percent in 2012 to 8 percent today. LG has also made some gains, thanks to its decision to include Europe when it launches new hardware, and has risen to just over 4 percent global market share. Huawei has made modest gains, but still ranks fifth with a 3 percent share.

Nowhere to be seen, and therefore dumped into the Others category are HTC, Sony, ZTE, BlackBerry, and the many manufacturers concentrating their efforts on China, such as Lenovo and Xiaomi. The report says Alcatel and Coolpad are the fastest growing names in Asia and parts of Western Europe, although neither have made any impact in the U.S. yet.

In total, 417 million mobile phones – that’s smartphones and feature phones together – were sold between July and September this year, a 7 percent increase over the 390 million sold last year, and the highest increase since 2011.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max: Apple better watch out
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event was jam-packed with a ton of new hardware, including the Galaxy S23 series. This lineup includes the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and the mega-powerful Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Despite there being three phones, the most exciting one is definitely the S23 Ultra, which now has a massive 200-megapixel main camera and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that's specially tuned "for Galaxy".

But how does Samsung’s latest top-of-the-line flagship Android phone compare to Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max? Which one of these two massive, powerful phones should you buy? Let’s take a look at the two side by side.
Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max: specs

Read more
Apple slashes trade-in values for its iPhones and more
apple iphone xr review xxl

For at least the third time this year, Apple has slashed the trade-in values for its various products.

It means that if you’re shopping at Apple during this holiday season and plan to hand over your old device for a new one, the credit you receive will be less than if you’d done it before November 10.

Read more
More than 5 billion mobile phones to become waste this year
A pile of e-waste.

What do you do with your old phone when you replace it? If you’re one of the responsible folks who trade it in or recycle it, then good for you.

But according to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum, most mobile phones that get switched off for good simply disappear into drawers, closets, and garages, or get chucked into trash cans bound for landfills or incineration.

Read more