APPLE HAS ousted the likes of Samsung and Nokia to lead the global smartphone market in the second quarter of 2011. While earlier, Apple smartphones were only earning huge revenue and profit, they are now also ruling the market in terms of volume and have a global 18.5% market share.

A total of 20.3 million iPhones were sold by California-based company The Cupertino in the second quarter of 2011, or 142% more that the same period last year. On the other hand, Samsung, which holds 17.5% stake in global smartphone market, sold 19.2 million smartphones, up 520% year-on-year.

Presently, Apple and Samsung dominate the global smartphone market, followed by Nokia in third place. Nokia currently accounts for 15.2% of global smartphone market share, a significant decrease from 2010.

Meanwhile, an International Data Corporation (IDC) report has revealed that the mobile phone market increased 11.3% worldwide in the second quarter of 2011, and was not affected by the decline in feature phone market. The feature phone market registered a 4% decrease in the second quarter of 2011. The decrease was credited to the increasing popularity of smartphones and was mainly seen in developed economies, like the US, Japan and Western Europe.

A total of 365. 4 million mobile phones were sold globally in the second quarter, compared to 328.4 million in the respective period last year, with Nokia ruling the top spot.