Global Q3 2012 mobile phone sales to end users drop by -3.1%  Y-o-Y to total around 428 million units Gartner reports-- with smartphones accounting for 36% of sales with 46.9% Y-o-Y growth. 

Despite the decline, Gartner points out a number of "positive signs" for the market during Q3 2012. Demand is improving in both emerging and mature market (as seen through Q-o-Q growth), with new devices driving replacement sales. 

Samsung leads the overall mobile market, with sales reaching 98m units with 18.6% Y-o-Y growth and 22.9% market share thanks to strong Galaxy smartphone demand. Meanwhile former leader Nokia slips further with 19.2% mobile market share and sales dropping by -21.9% market share to 82.3m units (still an improvement from earlier Gartner estimates due to increased Asha series sales).  

When it comes to the smartphone segment Q3 2012 total sales reach 169.2m units. As one already expects it remains a duopoly-- Apple and Samsung duke it out with most smartphone market share (46.5% between the two), while the rest share the scraps. 

Samsung leads in smartphones, taking 32.5% share with 55m in sales. Apple follows as sales total 23.6m units, up 36.2% Y-o-Y as it prepares for the holiday season. RIM and HTC follow at 3rd and 4th places respectively, while Nokia drops from 3rd place in Q2 2012 to 7th during Q3. 

Android is the smartphone operating system of Q3 2012 choice, with 72.4% market share (up from 52.5% in Q3 2011). iOS loses share (from 15% in Q3 2011 to 13.9%) and BlackBerry OS climbs up to 3rd place... but only because Symbian continues its shuffles towards the end of its lifecycle. 

The Windows Phone 8 launch dampened WP 7 device demand somewhat, as the Microsoft OS only has 2.4% market share. 

For the near future, Gartner expects iOS share will "grow strongly" in Q4 2012 as the iPhone 5 rolls out towards more market. But either way Samsung and Apple will continue dominating mobiles, both smart and dumb. 

Go Gartner Mobile Phone Market Tracker Q3 2012