Samsung and Apple now account for 90 percent of global profits from smartphones, suggesting that many of its rivals are struggling to cash-in on the smartphone boom.

According to new figures from ABI Research, smartphone shipments grew 41 percent year-over-year to 144.6 million in Q1, but it notes that “many smartphone OEMs are not enjoying the benefits of a rapidly expanding market.”

Table: Select Smartphone Vendor Shipments, 1Q’2012
(Millions of units)

Apple 35
Huawei 6.8
Nokia 11.9
RIM 11.1
Samsung 43
Sony 7
ZTE 4.9

 
Source: ABI Research


Samsung and Apple captured 55 percent of global smartphone shipments in the quarter and over 90 percent of the market’s profits, the firm said. Apple shipped 35 million and Samsung 43 million, while Nokia was a distant third on 11.9 million.

Of the top ten smartphone OEMs, only Samsung and Sony experienced sequential growth in shipments compared to the previous quarter. The once mighty Nokia witnessed a 40 percent sequential decline in shipments and ABI believes it could soon slip behind ailing RIM (which itself saw a 20 percent decline in BlackBerry shipments quarter-on-quarter).

“At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5,000 percent in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments,” commented ABI senior analyst Michael Morgan.