The global smartphone market grew by 42.5 percent year-on-year in Q1 2012, despite an overall decline in the mobile phone market of 1.5 percent. According to IDC, Samsung took the number one spot for smartphones as well as overall mobile phone sales, capturing 29.1 percent of the smartphone market as compared to just 11.3 percent last year. Meanwhile, Apple has seen its share grow by around 6 percentage points, bringing it to around 24 percent. These gains come at the expense of Nokia, RIM, and HTC, who have all seen their slice of the market approximately halved (or worse, in Nokia's case) over the past year.

The shift towards smartphones and overall decline in the mobile market could be part of the cause for Samsung overtaking Nokia, as the Finnish firm has focused on selling cheaper phones to developing markets over the past year. While the numbers may not look great for Nokia and HTC, both have launched new handsets which show significant changes in direction (HTC with the One series, Nokia with the Lumia). However, with Samsung revealing its next Galaxy on Thursday and a new Apple handset inevitable this year, will these new lines be enough for Nokia and HTC to regain ground?