Apple Closing on LG for Title of Third Largest Mobile Phone Vendor With 142% Growth

Research firm IDC today released results for global mobile phone sales for the second quarter of 2011, showing strong growth for Apple as it sits firmly in fourth place and closes quickly on LG in the race for third place among global phone vendors.

Apple maintained its number four position overall but closed the gap on Top 5 competitors thanks to another record unit shipment quarter. The company easily posted the highest growth rate of the worldwide leaders despite the fact that its flagship iPhone 4 is now more than a year old. The triple-digit shipment volume growth allowed Apple to more than double its share when compared to the same quarter last year. Apple’s ability to bring its smartphone momentum to developing economies, where it’s less successful, will help dictate the company’s smartphone fortunes in future.

Apple's share of the global market grew to 5.6% after hitting the 5% milestone last quarter, and grew up over 140% year-over-year against the backdrop of a market that grew by only 11.3% overall.

IDC within the next few days should be breaking down the data to reveal results for smartphones specifically, and while Apple has been reported to have passed Nokia to become the world's largest smartphone vendor, some analysts have suggested that Samsung may have ridden Android's popularity to even stronger growth that may have allowed it to surpass Apple last quarter.