Samsung: World’s Largest Cell Phone Vendor.

Nokia’s reign as the world’s largest maker of cell phones, has ended.  Samsung has taken over, ending the Finnish company’s 14-year run.  Samsung shipped 93.5 million handsets in the first quarter of 2012, 36% more than a year earlier, according to an industry study.  Nokia shipped 82.7 million, researcher Strategy Analytics said in a statement Friday.

Nokia reported a $1.8 billion first-quarter operating loss because of a sales slump.  The demand for Galaxy smartphones has helped the Korea-based Samsung post first-quarter net income today of  $4.5 billion, beating analysts’ estimates.  The Galaxy, according to Reuters, shifted over 20,000 smartphones an hour in January-March, outselling Apple’s iPhone in a duel for the lucrative high end of the mobile industry.  “Samsung and Apple are out-competing most major rivals and the smartphone market is at risk of becoming a two-horse race,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics.

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