Samsung Takes Over As Top Cell Phone Brand In 2012

For the past 14 years, Nokia has been the top cell phone brand. This year, there's a new leader: Samsung. According to analytics provider IHS, Samsung is expected to ship 29 percent of the world's cell phones in 2012. Last year, Samsung had 24 percent of the market and held the No. 2 spot.

In 2011, Nokia held the No. 1 spot with 30 percent of the market share. This year, Nokia's share will drop to 24 percent. Nokia has held the No. 1 spot since 1998. Overall, IHS expects global smartphone shipments to rise by 35.5 percent this year. Shipments of cell phones are expected to increase by approximately 1 percent. With the extreme growth in smartphone shipments, overall smartphone penetration is expected to hit 47 percent.

In addition to being the No. 1 cell phone brand, Samsung is also expected to have the best performance in the smartphone market. Apple comes in at No. 2. In 2011, Samsung and Apple were neck-and-neck in the smartphone battle with 20 percent and 19 percent of the market, respectively. In 2012, Samsung widened its lead over Apple in the smartphone market by rising to 28 percent while Apple increased to 20 percent. Nokia, HTC, and RIM rounded out the top 5 smartphone vendors.