Helsinki: Apple's iPhone 4S and Samsung's fresh, broad offering are likely to stand out in this holiday season's smartphone sales which will otherwise be clouded by global economic uncertainty.
Apple, which lost its position as the world's largest smartphone maker to Samsung last quarter, could regain top spot as consumers rush to buy the latest iPhone after waiting 16 months since the previous model went on sale.
Like millions elsewhere, 36-year-old Vanessa Pigeon last week took up an offer from her telecom operator and replaced her ageing BlackBerry with the latest iPhone. "I liked the design and I wanted to change for a long time," the recruitment official said.
In Britain the iPhone took a whopping 43 per cent market share in October, according to research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
"It's really only the iPhone family and the [Samsung] Galaxy family flying off the shelves. Everyone else is just picking up the leftovers," said Neil Mawston, analyst at research firm Strategy Analytics.
