Strategy Analytics has predicted that Samsung will increase its lead of Apple by growing its smartphone sales by 35 per cent throughout 2013.
The analyst firm estimates Samsung will sell 290 million smartphones as worldwide smartphone sales increase by 27 per cent in 2013, reaching an impressive 875 million units.
"We expect Samsung to slightly extend its lead over Apple this year because of its larger multitier product portfolio," Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, told Reuters.
Apple’s smartphone sales are projected to reach 180 million this year. These figures suggest that Apple will hold 21 per cent of the smartphone market throughout 2013, while Samsung will hold 33 per cent.
Although there has been rumours of Apple releasing an iPhone mini in 2013, Mawston believes it will not happen this year: "The iPhone 5 is growing fast and profitably right now, so there is little incentive for Apple to launch an 'iPhone Mini' this year. We expect the iPhone Mini to be more likely next year, in 2014 when Apple will be forced to discover fresh growth streams."