Global Smartphone Shipments Jump 55%

Bloomberg BusinessWeek: According to market research firm IDC, manufacturers shipped 158 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2011–a 55 percent year-over-year increase. Much of the credit for those increased sales goes to Apple, which shipped 37 million iPhones during the period. Apple claimed the top spot on IDC’s market leadership chart, followed by Samsung, Nokia, RIM and HTC, in that order.

“By the end of the quarter, one out of every three mobile phones shipped worldwide was a smartphone,” said IDC’s Ramon Llamas. “The launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S played a key role in smartphone growth to capture pent-up demand, and smartphone launches from other vendors also provided a broad selection to meet varying preferences and budgets.”