There has recently been evidence that the tides have changed, my friends. And unfortunately, they aren’t changing in favor of Apple, and the company isn’t looking too hot in the third quarter of 2011. To start off, Samsung has stolen the top spot from Apple in smartphone sales during the quarter, as the company missed its sales expectations for the first time in five years. If you recall in the second quarter of 2011, Apple topped all other smartphone vendors by selling 20.34 million iPhones during the quarter, and took the crown as the world’s leading vendor.

This quarter, things are different. Samsung’s reported third quarter earnings are estimated to have surpassed the iPhone by 10 million units. The company’s sales were up almost 400% annually, and 44% compared to the second quarter. Meanwhile, Apple also dropped down to fourth place in the large sell phone vendors by volume, as China’s ZTE rose and took 4th place for itself. A survey from Strategy Analytics had the following to say about Samsung’s success during the quarter:

After just one quarter in the top spot, Apple slipped behind Samsung to second position and captured 15 percent share. Apple’s global smartphone growth rate slowed to just 21 percent annually in Q3 2011, its lowest level for two years. We believe Apple’s growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung’s popular Galaxy S II model.

It will be interesting to see how Apple performs in the next quarter, especially with the launch of the iPhone 4S. However, with Steve Jobs gone, some pessimists may now be thinking that the golden age of Apple is coming to an end. However, only time will tell what the future has in store.

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