Apple iPhone tops smartphone charts in 2nd quarter

From CNET News.com: In one short year, Apple has toppled Nokia and taken control of the worldwide smartphone market.

According to research firm IDC, Apple's sales of 20.3 million iPhones worldwide during the second quarter of 2011 helped the company secure 19.1 percent market share and lead all other vendors. The company's shipments grew 141.7 percent compared to the second quarter of 2010 when it sold just 8.4 million iPhones and secured 13 percent share.

Apple's growth is all the more impressive when one considers that the iPhone 4 has been on store shelves for over a year now, and speculation abounds that it could be replaced with a new version of the device within weeks. However, Apple hasn't confirmed that it will, in fact, launch a new iPhone this year, and even the rumor mill can't seem to agree over whether the iPhone 5 will ship or if Apple will offer up an updated version of the iPhone 4.

Although Apple's year-over-year growth was strong, it was Samsung that stole the show. That company saw its shipments grow 380.6 percent year over year to settle at 17.3 million in the second quarter. At that level, Samsung was able to secure 16.2 percent share. Samsung's success is due mainly to the company's high-end devices, like the Galaxy S, IDC said.

"What originally began as a series of high-end smartphones has proliferated well into the mass-market, but has not strayed too far from its high-end roots," wrote about Samsung in its report on smartphone shipments. "Moreover, its steady cadence of device releases and updates has kept Samsung's smartphones well out in front of the competition."

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