Having established itself recently as the world's leading computer maker, Apple has now moved into third place among phone makers worldwide. According to a new report, the jump from the fifth spot is largely due to record-breaking shipments of its iPhone 4S smartphone.

The report, from industry research firm IDC, noted that sales of the 4S were particularly strong in Japan as well as the U.S. It also found that, while the overall mobile phone market grew 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, this is the lowest growth in over two years because the feature phone market is dropping fast. The third quarter of last year showed 9.3 percent growth overall.

Few 'Stupid' Phones Anymore

Although smartphone sales are growing, most of the phones shipped are still feature phones. Ramon Llamas, an IDC senior research analyst, said in a statement that, "even though their proportion is ending, feature phones maintain their appeal on the basis of price and ease of use."

Even as the boundary between smartphones and small tablets is becoming less distinct, so is the difference between smartphones and feature phones. The IDC report noted that feature phones "are becoming more like smartphones, incorporating mobile Internet and third-party applications."

Michael Gartenberg, research director at Gartner, said that "it's hard to tell what's a smartphone anymore." He added that feature phones are showing more capabilities, and smartphones can be obtained through carriers for little or nothing.

"It's difficult to find a stupid phone these days," he said.

Gartenberg pointed out that, when the 4S was released, many observers expressed disappointment that it wasn't more innovative, more of an advance over previous models. But, he said, "Apple has sold boatloads of them," which has now pushed its position higher on the worldwide scale.

Nokia Still No. 1

The IDC report noted that Nokia is still the "undisputed leader" in total mobile phone shipments. The company has officially launched its first Lumia smartphones with Windows Phone and its Asha line of feature phones with smartphone capabilities.

The key question for Nokia is whether its transition from the Symbian to the Windows Phone platforms can be done seamlessly, without seriously jeopardizing its leading position in the worldwide market. The IDC report said that Nokia's broad distribution network and manufacturing capacity will boost its effort to maintain its position during the transition.

Samsung, in second place, has also released several Windows Phone smartphones, and has reached record levels, including 300 million units sold in a single year. The IDC report noted that Samsung is now hot on Nokia's heels, with only 20 million units separating them.

Fourth and fifth places are held by LG and Chinese maker ZTE, respectively. ZTE devices are primarily targeted to the Asia/Pacific region, but have been showing up in other regions.

In terms of overall market share for 2011, Nokia held 27 percent, Samsung had 21.3 percent, Apple took 6 percent, and LG and ZTE had 5.7 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

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