New mobile sales estimates released by research firm IDC reveal that Apple has now surpassed LG to become the third-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world for the very first time, as reflected in the below chart showing mobile phone sales in terms of millions of units.
Apple’s new status is largely due to extremely strong sales of the iPhone 4S, which led to record earnings for the holiday 2011 quarter. What’s more, Apple didn’t just pass up LG in quarterly figures – they overtook LG in annual rankings as well.
Nokia and Samsung remain the leaders in mobile phone manufacturing, due mainly to their large number of continued lower-end mobile phone sales.
