iPhone 5 anticipation sees Apple phone sales stall while Samsung soars

Analyst house Gartner reports that worldwide smartphone sales are up 42 per cent, but Apple's sales are stalling as people hang on for the iPhone 5.

Worldwide phone sales are down 2.3 per cent compared to a year ago, its figures suggest, but that's not stopping Android march to dominance by taking a 64 per cent share of the global phone market.

In second place is Apple's iOS, trailing massively with 18.8 per cent – although it's still way ahead of Symbian, the next-closest contender, with only 5.9 per cent of the market.

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Interestingly Android is up by 20 per cent as it seems to have mopped up a lot of ex-Symbian users (thanks, budget phones!). Conversely, Apple is only up by 0.6 per cent year-on-year as people wait for iPhone 5.

As far as manufacturers are concerned, Samsung is the winner for Q2 2012, racking up a 21.6 per cent share of sales, ahead of Nokia's 19.9 per cent.

It's another marked drop for third place, though, with Apple the next in line with just 6.9 per cent of the market, although Cook and co are up 2.5 per cent from Q2 2011.

Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta commented, "The challenging economic environment and users postponing upgrades to take advantage of high-profile device launches and promotions available later in the year slowed demand across markets.

"The anticipated Apple iPhone 5, along with Chinese manufacturers pushing 3G and preparing for major device launches in the second half of 2012, will drive the smartphone market upward."