Nokia has been the largest producer of smartphones in the world since 1996. However, a recent Reuters article says that is going to change very soon, as Samsung is poised to supplant the Finnish powerhouse by the end of the quarter. And if that news wasn't alarming enough for Nokia, projections by Nomura analysts point to Apple becoming #2 on the list as soon as Quarter 4, and HTC landing in a virtual tie at third sometime in 2012.
This signals what analysts say is a shift to Asian manufacturers gaining more and more ground. Nokia will remain the largest overall cellphone maker through all of this, but it is clear that smartphones is where the industry is heading, with the exception of emerging countries. If they continue to decline in the smartphone market, they may not be long for this world.
