Samsung: World's No. 2 handset maker

Samsung Electronics were known for bad news - alleged bribery scheme implicating powerful sectors of the country's society, and its money-spinning memory-chip business is in the worst slump in five years. Now here is good news for Samsung. With Motorola struggling for more than a year, Samsung overtook its American rival in 2007 to become the world's second-largest handset maker after Nokia

New Strategy

Samsung's new strategy is to make cheap phones to target emerging markets like India, China. Another reason for its success its changes in supply chain management. Samsung changed it to provide real-time information on which products are selling and where, so marketers could redirect shipments to the markets where demand is strongest.

Racing for No.1 position in Europe

In Europe, Samsung is closing the gap as well, and it even rose to No. 1 in France in October, with a 33.9% share vs. Nokia's 22.6%. It also chalked up gains in Britain, Germany, and Italy from the beginning of this year, data from researcher GFK show.

If it keeps going, Samsung's challenge of Nokia's dominance might not be far off.