Nokia's woes continue to grow as it became dislodged from the top of the smartphone market Friday for the first time in 15 years.

Apple and Samsung Electronics vaulted over Nokia to gain the first and second rankings, respectively, in smartphone sales rankings, according to Strategy Analytics.

Nokia has reigned supreme ever since it launched its Communicator model in 1996, but a recent sales slump -- as well as the surging popularity of its closest rivals, Apple and Samsung -- sent the Finnish company straight to third place in the second quarter of 2011. Apple's iPhone beat all records with 20.3 million units sold in the quarter, despite the device being more than a year old. Analysts estimate that Samsung sold 19 million smartphones in the quarter well ahead of Nokia's 16.7 million.

Strategy Analytics also estimated that worldwide smartphone shipments grew for the second quarter of 2011 with a record 110 million units sold worldwide, for 76% growth across the board. Apple leapt to 20.3% in the same period while Samsung had 19.2% growth in comparison with Nokia who dropped from 23.8% to 16.7% in shipments in the same time.

"Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share," said Alex Spektor, Strategy Analytics senior analyst. "Apple's growth remained strong as it expanded distribution worldwide, particularly in China and Asia."

Samsung's growth in the market share shouldn't be overlooked. Samsung rose from 5% to second place with 17.5% in a whopping 12.5% raise while Apple only rose 5% from 13.5% to 18.5% to get to first place. Samsung actually beat Apple in terms of growth performance.

"Samsung overtook Nokia to become the world's second largest smartphone vendor in Q2 2011 ... [growing] a huge 520 percent annually," said Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawson. He added that Samsung growth was due to the popularity of its Galaxy brand.

Nokia shouldn't be counted as out of the race completely. The company's transition to the Windows Phone OS could drastically change the market share when the Windows Phone comes out.