Its on the day of its debut in Italian stores, here's a tile for Apple, pioneer of high-tech smartphones. The release of the latest jewel, the iPhone 4S, and the premature death of its creator, Steve Jobs, which nevertheless moved the whole world, was not enough to strengthen the image and sales of the Californian company.
Not even the victories in patent courts around the world were enough to prevent the run-up, and now the overtaking, of Samsung's bitter rivals. Indeed, in the third quarter of 2011, the Korean giant has overtaken Apple in the ranking of smartphone sellers.
The sensational verdict emerges from a report by research firm Strategy Analytics. Total smartphone sales jumped 44% year-on-year to 117 million units in the third quarter, with Samsung sold 27,8 million devices, well above Apple's 17,1 million.
The Asian group's market share rose to 23,8% against that of the US company's 14,6%. On the other hand, Apple's sales slowed down in the summer period due to the wait for the launch of the iPhone 4s mobile phone, which took place in the fourth quarter. The third largest producer in the world is Nokia with 16,8 million devices sold.
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