WinPho needs to grow 5,000 per cent in 2012 to turn around Symbian

Samsung and Sony among the only smartphone OEMs to achieve growth in Q1.

New IDC data says smartphone shipments increased 41 per cent year-on-year between Q1 2011 and Q1 2012, reaching 144.6 million.

However, most OEMs have failed to benefit from the boom, with Samsung and Sony the only two firms to achieve an increase in demand on Q4.

Nokia has a huge mountain to climb, with sales of its Symbian-powered devices falling 40 per cent. ABI senior analyst Michael Morgan said: "At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5,000 per cent in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments."

Meanwhile, troubled RIM had a 20 per cent plummet to its shipments on Q4.

North America and Western Europe are on course for a 50 per cent smartphone penetration, and IDC reckons firms should look to build on growing regions like China - world's largest smartphone market - which had an 80 per cent shipment growth.

Unsurprisingly, but impressively, Samsung and Apple reportedly secured a combined 90 per cent of all smartphone profits from a 55 per cent market share.

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