For the first time in 13 years, market leader Nokia had to give up its coveted top spot as the largest mobile phone vendor to Samsung in the first quarter of this year, reports said according to the latest research from London-based Strategy Analytics.

Samsung captured 25% of the market share to overtake the Finnish handset maker. While Samsung sold 93.5 million handsets in the quarter, up 36% than the previous year, Nokia sold 82.7 million devices. Apple has taken number three spot with a 9.5% market share.

While Nokia may still be market leader in India, its market share has been dented with Indian handset brands in the low-end segment and Samsung snatching away the mid and top-end segment from it.  

 “Nokia’s global handset shipments declined a huge 24% annually to 82.7 million units in Q1 2012. Volumes were squeezed at both ends, as low-end feature phone shipments in emerging markets stalled and high-end Microsoft Lumia smartphones were unable to offset the rapid decline of Nokia’s legacy Symbian business,’’ said Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.

Moreover, in the smartphone segment, Samsung outsold its rival Apple as shipments more than tripled on robust demand for its Galaxy handsets.

Samsung held a 30.6% share of the world's smartphone market, while Apple followed with a 24.1% share, the research firm said.