Apple topples Nokia as the biggest cell phone company by revenue

Who could have predicted that in 2007? With just one mobile phone, Apple's last quarterly results show that it is now raking in more revenue than the number one cell phone manufacturer by number of phones sold - Nokia. Nokia's average selling price (ASP) per handset in Q3 was just $56, whereas the iPhone's ASP in Q4 was $625 - you do the math why Apple got ahead with much less phones sold. Nokia's ASP will be, of course, more in Q4, because of the flagship Nokia N8 (a review of it vs the iPhone 4 here), which is selling relatively well, but it will be far from Cupertino's margins

Granted, we are comparing Nokia's Q3 ($9.7 billion) with Apple's Q4 here ($10.47 billion), but we are not even counting the carriers' iPad, or the  iTunes revenue, whereas Nokia's numbers include the Ovi Store for apps and music. US was the last country with an exclusivity carrier deal, and now this is over with the Verizon iPhone.

We don't know how many Nokia N8s the Finns will sell in Q4, but given Apple's blowout fourth quarter, and another 8-12 million iPhones sold just to Verizon this year, we see it as fairly certain that 2011 will be the year when Apple will get comfortably ahead as the largest cell phone manufacturer by revenue. That's what happens when you can predict what people want, and give it to them in a well-designed, and easy to use manner. Hopefully Apple will keep it that way even without the "symbol of the American Dream" (as per Barack Obama) - Steve Jobs.

via Electronista