Samsung has widened its lead over Apple in mobile phone shipments in the second quarter, said IDC.

The global mobile phone market grew only 1 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2012, IDC said Thursday. Samsung and Apple shipped almost half of the world's smartphones.

Samsung and Apple have more than doubled their combined market share over the past two years, IDC said.

"Samsung employs a 'shotgun' strategy wherein many models are created that cover a wide range of market segments. Apple, in contrast, offers a small number of high-profile models," said Kevin Restivo, an IDC analyst, explaining how different their strategies are.

Samsung's strategy, at the moment, is winning, said IDC.

In addition to the launching its flagship Galaxy S III, Samsung saw success with its smartphone/tablet hybrid device, the Galaxy Note, IDC said.

IDC

This allowed Samsung to top the 50 million unit mark and reached a new quarterly smartphone shipment record in a single quarter.

But the new iPhone is coming. "What remains to be seen is how the company's smartphones will fare against Apple's next-generation iPhone expected later this year," IDC said.

Apple, on the other hand, posted "an expected sequential decline last quarter, similar to years past," according to IDC.

"The quarter-over-quarter shipment decline came six months after it unveiled its latest iPhone. The decline is not unusual as iPhone shipment volume is highest in the first two quarters after its release."

Nokia, HTC, and ZTE were ranked 3,4, and 5 respectively.