Samsung shipped 52.1 million smartphones, double the number of iPhones shipped by its leading rival  Apple in the second quarter of 2012 according to estimates by Juniper Research. Samsung’s numbers were mainly due to its flagship phone Galaxy S3 which achieved sales of 10 million in June.

Other players in the smartphone game aren’t coming out as shiny as Samsung. RIM shipped 7.4m smartphones in Q2 and Nokia 10.2m. HTC’s “early promise” has been stymied by Samsung, while Motorola is described as being “distracted by the Google acquisition” and weak in Western Europe.

‘While the Galaxy S3 has been a phenomenal success, Samsung has leveraged its global brand strength and the popularity of the Android OS to drive sales of smartphones in all price tiers. RIM (with 7.4 million smartphones shipped in Q2) continues to struggle to cope with the transition to the touchscreen era and an OS which lacks the user base to attract developers, and Nokia (10.2 million) is yet to show any clear indication it is benefitting from the switch to Windows Phone 7, with its hopes riding on Windows 8.’ said a press release by Juniper Research.