Samsung, Apple Rule 2012 Smartphone Market With Massive Sales

Apple and Samsung once again ruled the smartphone sales market in 2012, moving nearly half of the sectors 700 million units.

Samsung nearly doubled Apple’s sales, moving 213 million units compared to the Cupertino, California company’s 135.8 million units. Apple has confirmed that its units were sold to customers and not simply shipped to retailers.

2012 was an especially good year for the smartphone market, which witnessed a 500 million unit increase in sales. Sales grew by 43 percent year-over-year compared to 2011 in which the market grew by 64 percent.

The report also notes that Samsung nearly doubled the 100 million unit sales record Nokia reached in 2010.

While Apple took second place to Samsung, the tech giant did manage to increase its year-over-year sales by 46 percent, beating industry increases. Apple iPhone sales were helped along by increasing demand in China.

Struggling provider Nokia held on to the number-three spot but watched its market share fall from 16 percent to five percent.

As smartphone sales increased in 2012 the global demand for lower-end feature phones began to slip. When those phones were included, more than 1.6 billion mobile phone units were sold in 2012.

2013 could turn into an interesting year in the smartphone market. LG is believed to be preparing the next Google Nexus smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S IV will be released, and Apple is fighting against slipping interest caused by a lack of innovation and iOS 6 mapping problems that turned off many users.

Will you be picking up a new smartphone in 2013? What devices are you interested in using when you upgrade your device?