Boston – Apple overtook Nokia in
the first quarter as the world’s largest handset vendor by dollar volume,
Strategy Analytics contends.
“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 senior analyst Alex Spektor.
Strategy Analytics estimates Apple’s wholesale
revenues for iPhones hit $11.9 billion in the first quarter, while Nokia
reported $9.4
billion in first-quarter handset revenue. (See table.)
Neil Mawston, director of
Strategy Analytics, said, “In revenue terms, Apple is now the world’s largest
handset vendor, smartphone vendor and tablet vendor. Apple’s proprietary
ecosystem of hardware, software and services has proven wildly popular and hugely
profitable.” Apple, however, faces stiff challenges from
Android as well as from Nokia, he said. The global installed base of Android
handsets will exceed
that of Apple’s by the end of 2011, Mawston said.
“Nokia is
also investing heavily with Microsoft and Apple will be a key target for them
next year,” he
added.
