A recent report from technology research firm IHS predicts that Samsung will more than double its percentage point lead over all rivals from 2012 to 2013, no doubt with help from the upcoming Galaxy S4 handset. Specifically, the publication said the Korean giant's lead should rise to 11 percent over the nearest rival (it was just five points higher a year ago).
The firm seems really confident that the Galaxy S4 and perhaps others like the high-end Tizen handset and the Galaxy Note III will sell exceedingly well but at the same time, the prediction is likely weighted by the woes of competitors. For example, Nokia's share in the market has been falling for some time as smartphones like the Lumia series haven't sold as well as executives might have hoped.
In 2012, Samsung controlled 29 percent of the global cell phone market while Nokia held on to 24 percent, largely from feature phone sales. Apple's share increased three percent from 2011 to 2012 but at only 10 percent a year ago, they aren't a threat to Samsung at this time. ZTE and LG round out the top five handset OEMs with six percent and four percent of the market, respectively.
If you somehow missed the news, the Galaxy S4 was unveiled last week at a press event in New York City. Key features include a 5-inch display, a 1.9GHz quad-core / 1.6GHz octa-core CPU (varies by market), 2GB of system memory and a PowerVR SGX544MP3 GPU. It's expected to go on sale as early as next month on all major carriers in the US.