U . S . IT giant Apple is set to become the world ’ s largest smartphone manufacturer by volume , overtaking Nokia for the first time , a report showed on Tuesday . According to DigiTimes , a Taipei - based daily , Apple is expected to take 19 percent of the global smartphone market with shipments of 86 . 4 million units this year . The number of shipped handsets has surged 82 percent from 47 . 5 million units in 2010 . Nokia , another IT giant based in Finland , however , will see significant drop in smartphone shipments with only 75 million handsets shipped this year , a 25 percent decline from over 100 million units shipped in the previous year , the report added . Not only Apple , but Samsung is also growing strong thanks to the popularity of its Android smartphone . The South Korean technology giant is expected pass HTC and Research in Motion , the report said . Samsung , which is involved in a bitter legal dispute with Apple , is expected to take the No . 3 spot with estimated shipments of 67 million units . Samsung is followed by RIM with 55 . 7 million and HTC with 49 . 7 million . The report said 462 million smartphones are expected to ship worldwide in 2011 , up 60 percent from the shipments of 288 million last year . The top five smartphone manufacturers ― Apple , Nokia , Samsung , RIM and HTC ― are likely to cover 72 percent of the global shipments this year or 333 million units . Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE are also growing quickly in the smartphone industry , the Taipei daily specializes in IT sector , said . Huawei , in particular , is expected to reach a 400 percent year - over - year rise in shipments . By Cho Chung - un ( christory @ heraldm . com )