Apple's position in the catbird seat for global smartphone shipments has been short-lived. Just a scant three months ago, the maker of the iPhone knocked Nokia out of the top spot. Now Samsung and its lineup of Android smartphones are top dog.
Apple is the most valuable brand in the world, beating out former top brand Google. The house that Jobs built is so highly valued that it is worth more than Microsoft and Coca-Cola combined, according to the 2011 BrandZ Top 100.
Google said during the company's earnings call on Thursday that more than 3 billion apps have been installed from the Android Market so far, and around 350,000 smartphones are activated every day. The new figures highlight the exceptional growth of Android, but when it comes to app stores, Apple's is still king.
Pricey Apple iPad challengers, including the Motorola Xoom, Blackberry PlayBook, and HP TouchPad, will be crushed by the iPad 2 in 2011, according to Forrester market analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.
Research firm ChangeWave published survey results this week that show the iPhone 4 leading the smartphone pack in consumer satisfaction.
Despite an Android onslaught, "antenna-gate" and "glass-gate", Apple has managed to design its way into the top five handset makers for the first time, bouncing Sony Ericsson out of the game as the Cupertino firm enjoys growing mind-share.
In the race for worldwide smartphone dominance, Apple has finally passed Research In Motion. During this year's third quarter, 15.4 million iPhones were shipped globally compared to only 12.4 million Blackberries, the researchers at Strategy Analytics reported yesterday.