Japanese electronics maker Sony has cracked the top five in worldwide smartphone sales for the first time since 2006. It now stands ahead of RIM's Blackberry and Taiwan's HTC to claim the number three spot in worldwide popularity.

Sony's advance came as a surprise, though it was no surprise who was number one or two in worldwide sales. Samsung claimed the top spot because of the wide popularity of its range of Android phones. Apple is second in worldwide sales however, in terms of having the single most popular model, the iPhone wins hands-down.

According to market research company Canalys, 173.7 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter of 2012. That's a 44 per cent year-to-year increase. Samsung shipped 55.5 million handsets followed by Apple with 26.9 million.

An effective new marketing campaign and some strong products such as the Xperia P are credited for propelling Sony to the third spot. It sold 8.8 million units and gained 5.1 per cent in market share. Canalys' equates that increase to an amazing 41.1 per cent gain year-on-year.

Sony may get another windfall from the movie, Skyfall. In the new "James Bond" film, the British agent 007, played by actor Daniel Craig is seen using the Xperia and the added cachet from product placement could boost sales even higher in the fourth quarter.

The top five was rounded out with HTC, which saw its share fall by 36.1 per cent and RIM, which, despite its well publicised struggles (largely because of its Blackberry popularity in Asia), managed to sell 7.3 million handsets in the third quarter, giving it a 4.2 per cent market share.

LG will be expected to move further up the table next quarter following the launch of its Google-branded LG Nexus smartphone, which went on sale in November. Reviewers have praised it, though it only comes in 3G and is not 4G compatible.

Separate data from IDC published on November 2 revealed that 75 per cent of all smartphones shipped (136 million) in the third quarter ran Android compared with 14.9 per cent running Apple's iOS and 2 per cent using Windows Phone 7 or Windows Mobile.

http://www.thechoice.my/featured-articles/63071-sony-becomes-worlds-third-largest-smartphone-maker

But still a lot better than those Windows smartphones isn't it. Give it a couple years and Sony will rival Samsung. They already got the better phone in the Xperia T and V.

So there Smartphone segment is profitable?

Finally some good news for Sony.

Sony needs to get into all carriers in the US, ATT is not enough. And Sonys phone are just better than Samsung cheap plastic

Sony won't rival Samsung, it's an unrealistic prediction TBH.  but their smartphones business are growing.

About Windows smartphones ?  No need to speak about the dead.

Sony's offerings are much better in the midrange than HTC's. For HTC there are plasticy terrible phones and then super-expensive flagship, nothing inbetween.

Overtaking RIM was a given.

I don't think we'll see Nokia improve at all.

Sony is doing pretty well in the mid-budget segment, they just lack a true high-end competitor. It seems they will make a competitive flagship this year though. Of course they won't rival Samsung but selling 1/5 of GS3 would still be a very good result.

If I didn't have an iPhone I would go with Sony over Samsung. SAMs are ugly and feel like cheap plastic.

GO SONY!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! XD

I am buying one soon, so another sale! XD