Reuters has reported that, according to a study done by research firm Strategy Analytics, Apple Inc. has become "the world's largest phone vendor by revenue in January-March, overtaking Nokia." During their recent second quarter results announcement Apple says it sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
Strategy Analytics said on Thursday. "With strong volumes and high wholesale prices, the PC vendor has successfully captured revenue leadership of the total handset market in less than four years," said analyst Alex Spektor.
The Reuters report also stated, "Apple's revenue from the iPhone rose to $11.9 billion in the last quarter, while Nokia's phone revenue slipped to $9.4 billion, Strategy Analytics said.
In a related report from market intelligence analysis firm Asymco reveals that while Apple owns a worldwide mobile phone unit market share of only 4%, Apple accounted for approximately half of the industry's profits for the fourth quarter of 2010. While its market share is small in comparison to its competition, Apple's iPhone smartphone is on the premium and high end scale of the spectrum.
Macrumors.com, who ran the story on the Asymco study stated, "Asymco's study based its calculations of revenue and profit shares on data compiled from reports issued by the top eight publicly-traded mobile phone manufacturers: Apple, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Research in Motion, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson."
Sources: Reuters