Apple Is Not the Largest Mobile Device Maker in the World

A few days ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that his company is "the largest mobile devices company in the world." A quick comparison of Apple and Nokia's most recent financial quarters doesn't bear this up, though.

During the last three months of 2009, Apple sold 8.7 million iPhones, double the number sold during the year-ago quarter. It also sold 21 million iPods, an 8% year-over-year unit decline, for a total of 29.7 million mobile devices.

While the increase in the number of iPhones sold has to please Steve Jobs, it is still well behind Nokia, who sold about 4 times as many mobile devices: 126.9 million, up 12% year on year. The company says it believes it made 40% of all the smartphones sold during this period.

When total quarterly revenues are compared, Nokia still comes out ahead, though the margin is much slimmer. Apple's total last quarter was $15.68 billion, while Nokia's was EUR 12.0 billion ($16.6 billion).

Nevertheless, if sales of the iPhone continue to grow at their present rate, it won't be long before Apple is able to rival Nokia, who has dominated global phone sales for over a decade.

Source: Apple, Nokia