The mobile phone market grew almost 20% year-over-year during the first quarter of 2011, IDC has stated. The reason? Smartphones, smartphones, and more smartphones. The firm reports that worldwide smartphone growth was particularly fast in the Asia/Pacific region, as well as in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. As far as hard numbers, it’s stated that 371.8 million units were shipped in the first quarter of this year, contrasting with 310.5 million units in the first quarter of last year. Nokia remains the world’s largest mobile handset maker, however, the company’s market share dropped over 5% YoY. Apple maintained the number four spot while also posting the highest rate of growth amongst the top 5 worldwide leaders, with over 5% of the market share and 114.9% growth year-over-year. White iPhones not included.
