Samsung Beats Apple in Q3 Smartphone Sales

Samsung has overtaken Apple in smartphone sales during the third quarter for the first time ever, shipping 20 million units to Apple’s 17.1 million. Apple CEO Tim Cook blamed media hype around the iPhone 5 for dampening iPhone 4 sales.

Samsung sold 12 million smartphones in the first quarter and exceeded 19 million in Q2, according to Strategy Analytics data. Samsung had speculated that it might pass Apple in the second quarter but had to wait until the end of September to reach that milestone.

Samsung’s operating profits for the third quarter is estimated at between $3.5 and $3.9 billion.

Samsung had overtaken Nokia earlier in the year in the smartphone segment. Nokia has seen its smartphone market share continue to slide, falling 38% year-on-year in Q3. At the moment it can only hope that the Windows Phone will save it from being squeezed out of the market altogether.