Does Apple even need the iPhone 5? According to new stats from Strategy Analytics, Cupertino was the world's number one smartphone vendor for the second quarter, while IDC found that Apple more than doubled its share compared to the same quarter last year.
Apple shipped 20.3 million iPhones in the second quarter of 2011, up from 8.4 million during the same quarter last year, Strategy Analytics said. That gives it 18.5 percent of the global smartphone market, compared to 13.5 percent last year.
"We had previously reported on Apple becoming the largest smartphone vendor in terms of revenue and profits. Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share," according to Strategy Analytics.
Samsung wasn't far behind with 19.2 million smartphones shipped and 17.5 percent of the market. That's also a big bump from last year, when it shipped 3.1 million smartphones and had a 5 percent share. Apple and Samsung's successes, however, hurt Nokia, which dropped from 38.1 percent of the smartphone market to 15.2 percent.
In terms of overall handset shipments—smartphones and feature phones—Nokia was still number one, with 88.5 million handsets shipped globally during the second quarter, though that was down 20 percent. Samsung came in at number two with 74 million shipped, a 16 percent boost, followed by LG with 24.8 million shipped, a 19 percent drop. That put LG and Apple about 1 percentage point apart, "the closest Apple has ever been," Strategy Analytics found.
IDC today reported similar numbers, also naming Nokia, Samsung, and LG as the top mobile phone vendors. But Apple's "record" shipment quarter helped it close the gap on the top three, the firm said.
Apple "easily posted the highest growth rate of the worldwide leaders despite the fact that its flagship iPhone 4 is now more than a year old," IDC said. "The triple-digit shipment volume growth allowed Apple to more than double its share when compared to the same quarter last year."
IDC also reported sales of 20.3 million iPhones in the quarter, giving it 5.6 percent market share in the global handset market and a 141.8 percent boost from the same time period last year.
"Apple’s ability to bring its smartphone momentum to developing economies, where it’s less successful, will help dictate the company’s smartphone fortunes in future," IDC said.
Apple is rumored to be prepping a cheaper iPhone for emerging markets, as well as its next-gen iPhone 5, which will possibly debut in September.