Q4 Smartphone Shipments Reflect Android and Samsung Momentum

Market researchers at Canalys, which tracks mobile phone shipments in more than 50 countries, have just published their shipment estimates for Q4 of 2012, and the results show that it's an Android-powered world. According to the report, the worldwide smartphone market grew 37% in 2012. Android smartphones accounted for 34% of all phone shipments and iOS phones 11%. Clearly, Android is making its mark.

Smartphones represented almost 50% of all the phones that shipped in Q4 2012, according to Canalys. Here are some of the other key findings.

According to the report:

"In the smartphone market, Android handsets accounted for 69% of the 216.5 million shipped. Samsung had a very strong quarter, growing 78%, while the Chinese vendors Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and Yulong all grew by triple-digit percentages...In the largest phone market in the world, China, smartphones dominated shipments, making up 73% of the market compared to 40% a year ago."

 The report does take note of the mark that the iPhone 5 is making, though. According to Canalys, Android’s share dipped sequentially (year over year) from 74% as Apple’s share grew from 15% to 22% on the strength of the iPhone 5.

"BlackBerry, Microsoft and Nokia, as well as other Android vendors, have strategies and devices in place to attack, but the task is daunting to say the least," said Pete Cunningham, Canalys Principal Analyst, in a statement. "When we look at the whole of 2012, Nokia remained the number three smart phone vendor, shipping 35 million units, but Apple in second place shipped 101 million more handsets. First-placed Samsung shipped 74 million more than Apple – the gaps are colossal."

Android only began to gain momentum in 2009, and since then, HTC and Motorola built significant brand strategies around the open source mobile OS, but it's very clear that Samsung has the biggest lock on the Android phone market at this point.