Top 10 smartphone makers: Nokia last, Motorola out as Chinese companies take over

The third quarter of 2012 is now history, and as nearly all research agencies have published their numbers we have the top 10 smartphone makers ranking. There is a lot going on there with some companies rising, others falling, and yet other companies like Motorola flying off the top ten list.

The biggest move this quarter is without a doubt Nokia’s catastrophic drop to number 10. The company that until recently led the world with smartphone sales, and lastly ranked third, now sells less smartphones than Chinese Huawei, ZTE and even Lenovo. Nokia’s positions may or may not improve slightly in Q4 with the launch of its new Windows Phone 8 Lumia smartphones, but at present the company ranks last and it is not clear whether it can remain in the top 10 at all.

The other big news is that Motorola has now flown off board and ranks 11th. It is replaced by Chinese Lenovo, making strides in its home market with affordable Android devices.

The big winners this quarter were Chinese Huawei and Japan’s Sony, managing to sell more and more smartphones. Huawei in particular is starting to chase Apple for the second place.

Finally, the big names Samsung and Apple continue staying undisturbed at the top. Samsung sold a record number of smartphones in the industry’s history and is likely to even better that next quarter when Holidays bring people to the stores, and Apple has also cemented its position as the runner-up with lower market share but much bigger profits.

And if we had to sum it all up, one thing becomes clear: Asian manufacturers are clearly on the rise, while except for Apple, all other phone makers from the Western world are in trouble. What do you expect to see in Q4? Could Nokia come back, and how many iPhones could Apple sell? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.