Samsung Increases Gap Between It and Rivals in Mobile Handsets Sales – AAPL, NOK

Korean consumer electronics giant, Samsung Electronics, has increased the gap between itself and rival Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nokia Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:NOK) in the sale of mobile handsets, a research firm data showed.

According to data from Gartner, in the second quarter Samsung sold 90.43 million mobile handsets giving it a 21.6 percent share of the market. It had a share of 20.7 percent in the first quarter and 16.3 percent share in the year-ago quarter.

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Apple devices held a market share of 6.9 percent in the second quarter, gaining from the 4.6 percent share it had a year earlier. Market men and tech analysts feel that customers are holding off buying iPhones as they are waiting for the launch of the new phone expected in mid-September.

Most of Samsung's gains in the mobile handsets market have been due its Android-powered Galaxy range of smartphones, especially its latest Galaxy S3 phones. Gartner said that smartphones accounted for more than half of Samsung's phone sales.

Nokia, which has lost its supremacy in the mobile devices market, recorded a market share of 19.9 percent in the second quarter compared to 22.8 percent a year earlier though its share has risen briefly from the 19.8 percent in the first quarter.

Gartner sad that Nokia's Lumia phones, powered by Windows, were struggling to make their presence felt, in the midst of Android phones, which had flooded the market. Smartphones running Android had 64 percent of the market, compared to Apple's iOS which had a share of 18.8 percent.

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In the quarter a total of 419 million units of mobile devices were sold of which 154 million were smartphones. Total mobile phones sold dipped 2.3 percent on year in the quarter while smartphone sales rose nearly 43 percent in the quarter.