Indeed, Q3 2011 figures published by research firm Gartner suggest of the 440 million mobile devices sold, 105 million around 24 percent had Nokia's name brandished across them.
Waiting for the flagship
Gartner claims Samsung currently holds second spot, with 79 million devices sold and a 17 percent share, while LG is way behind in third with sales of 21 million a 5 percent share of the market.
When it comes to smartphones as a whole, consumers picked up 115 million units in Q3, up 42 percent from the same period in 2010.
That also represents a 26 percent share of the entire mobile market, up one percentage point from Q2's share.
"Strong smartphone growth in China and Russia helped increase overall volumes in the quarter, but demand for smartphones stalled in advanced markets such as Western Europe and the US as many users waited for new flagship devices featuring new versions of the key operating systems," said principal research analyst Roberta Cozza.
"Some consumers held off upgrading in the third quarter because they were waiting for promotions on other new high-end models that were launched in the run-up to the fourth quarter holiday season.
"Other consumers were waiting for a rumoured new iPhone and associated price cuts on older iPhone models; this affected US sales particularly."
Sleeping giant
But while Nokia is top dog on a worldwide basis, Gartner reports Samsung's smartphone sales tripled year-on-year to hit 24 million solds, putting it ahead of the Finnish firm for the first time in Western Europe and Asia.
Gartner puts this down to the strength of the firm's Galasy line up, though it's expected Apple will offer strong competition in Q4, thanks to strong sales of iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and the now free iPhone 3GS.
As a result, iOS will likely grab some share back from Android, though Google's OS remains firmly in charge for the time being, with 52 percent of the smartphone market around 60.5 million units of the more than 115 million smartphones that landed in the hands of consumers throughout the quarter.
"Android benefited from more mass-market offerings, a weaker competitive environment and the lack of exciting new products on alternative operating systems such as Windows Phone 7 and RIM," Cozza said.
"Apple's iOS market share suffered from delayed purchases as consumers waited for the new iPhone. Continued pressure is impacting RIM's performance, and its smartphone share reached its lowest point so far in the US market, where it dropped to 10 percent."
[source: Gartner]
