Despite not unveiling a new flagship smartphone as many had hoped, Korean manufacturer Samsung has cleaned up nicely at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, picking up two awards – Best Smartphone and Best Manufacturer.
Initially we thought that Samsung’s excellent Galaxy Nexus would be the phone to pick up the first award, but it was the Galaxy S II that took top prize. Samsung unveiled the S II exactly one year ago at MWC 2011, and it has since enjoyed phenomenal success with over 20 million handsets sold worldwide today.
Apple stole the show last year, winning the Best Smartphone award with the newly announced iPhone 4, despite not even attending the show. This year however, the tables have turned, and both Apple and its iPhone 4S didn’t get a look-in.
Samsung also picked up an award for Best Manufacturer at the show, something we feel is deserved. The Korean manufacturer has recently been making waves in the smartphone market with a range of excellent smartphones available on Android, Windows Phone and even its own Bada OS. Our favourite has to be the Galaxy Nexus, but you can’t neglect other excellent options such as the Galaxy S II and Omnia 7.
Samsung’s JK Shin, President of IT and Mobile Communications Division, accepted the awards on stage at the show earlier.
“We are pleased to receive this honor from GSMA and believe that it’s a testament to Samsung’s innovation, quality products, and attention to consumer preferences. We sold over 97 million smartphones in 2011, demonstrating that this is the right approach.”
Quite impressive, we’re sure you’ll agree. If you couple Samsung’s smartphone sales with its feature phone sales from the past year, you get 300 million devices sold. This still proves that smartphones have a long way to go before they truly take over the world, but they’re getting there.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.