Apple Crowned Top Smartphone Vendor of 2011 by Gartner

Cnet: According to Gartner’s latest data, Apple captured 19 percent of the smartphone market in 2011, making it the top smartphone vendor for the year. While some researchers put Samsung at number one, Gartner believed the firm was just edged out by Apple. “Western Europe and North America led most of the smartphone growth for Apple during the fourth quarter of 2011,” said Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza. “In Western Europe the spike in iPhone sales in the fourth quarter saved the overall smartphone market after two consecutive quarters of slow sales.”

Overall, Gartner reported 472 million smartphone sales last year, a 58 percent improvement from 2010. Android remained the top mobile operating system with 50.9 percent of the market.