Samsung Overtakes Apple in Smartphone Sales [Europe]

According to IDC, Samsung has surpassed Apple in European smartphone sales by shipping 4.8 Million units, compared to Apple’s 4.6M units. Samsung had a strong momentum before, but clearly, the Samsung Galaxy S2 should get the credit for this (read our Samsung Galaxy S2 review). HTC stands at the third spot, and you can easily understand why every player is fighting with the gloves off: Apple sues Samsung, and HTC countersuing Apple while Google is arming HTC with patents.It is a bit surprising that Samsung has overtaken Apple so quickly. On the other hand, only Samsung, offers phones that easily go head to head with Apple in them of thinness, image quality and photography capabilities. Of course, there are still big differences between the two designs, especially in terms of build quality and material. Apple stays entrenched in the high-end manufacturing with glass and aluminum, while Samsung sticks to lighter materials like plastic.

Beyond the Samsung/Apple fight, Android has indeed been the number one in terms of overall market share, and there is probably nothing that Apple can do as the iPhone 5 is unlikely to change the trend. The loser in the story? Nokia. Despite a historical strength in that Market, Nokia’s market share is quickly eroding – now the jump to Windows Phone 7 is more than ever a “do-or-die” for the company.