Apple to Sell More Phones than Anyone Else in 2011

Today, Digitimes published a forecast reporting that Apple will sell a staggering 86.4 million iPhones in 2011, blowing past Nokia to become the world’s leading smartphone vendor. Apple is slated to see a 82% increase in shipments from the 47.5 million units shipped in 2010.

It was recently announced that Apple had already overtaken Nokia globally in terms of units manufactured, and Apple is also projected to overtake the Finnish juggernaut in shipment volume by year’s end…

“Apple’s smartphone shipments are projected to top 86.4 million units in 2011, up 82% from 47.5 million units in 2010. In contrast, Nokia’s smartphone shipments in 2011 will decline to 74.4 million units from over 100 million in 2010, said Luke Lin, analyst for Digitimes Research.”

Nokia hasn’t been doing too well lately.  The company recently announced a partnership with Microsoft, but it’s unclear as to how that alliance will help either company in the smartphone race going forward.

Besides Apple, Samsung will enjoy the second largest increase in smartphone shipments this year.

“Among the world’s top-5 smartphone brands, third-ranked Samsung Electronics will enjoy the highest shipment growth in 2011, Lin estimated. The Korea-based vendor’s smartphone shipments are projected to climb 44% to 67 million units.”

Global smartphone shipments are expected to see a 60% increase in 2011, rising to 462 million units shipped.

Apple is on track to take the market by storm in the coming months with the possible introduction of two iPhone models at its next media event. One device will be the flagship iPhone 5, possessing plenty of features to separate it from its iPhone 4 predecessor. The other model has been dubbed the iPhone 4S, and that cheaper device will most likely be a re-tooled iPhone 4 with a faster processor and dual baseband support.

We’re looking forward to whatever Apple has up its sleeve for the latter half of 2011. What are you excited about?