Samsung passed Nokia to become the world's biggest mobile phone maker in the first quarter, according to Strategy Analytics. The market researcher estimates that Samsung sold 93.5 million handsets, versus a reported 82.7 million at Nokia. Samsung took a record 25.4 percent of the market, up from 19.3 percent a year ago. Nokia fell to 22.5 percent from 30.4 percent in the year-earlier period, ending its 14-year reign as the world's biggest handset vendor. Samsung was also the top smartphone seller in the quarter, passing Apple to reach a 31 percent market share. Samsung's smartphone sales rose an estimated 253 percent annually to 44.5 million, while Apple's shipments of 31.5 million accounted for a market share of 24 percent. On the total phone market, Apple had a share of 9.5 percent, up from 5.2 a year ago. Strategy Analytics estimates the total mobile phone market expanded 3 percent year-on-year to 368 million units in Q1. This was led by a 41 percent increase in global smartphone shipments to an estimated 145 million units in the first quarter of 2012.
