Apple about ready to push Samsung off the smartphone leaders board

Strong sales of Apple's latest round of smartphones are pushing Samsung Electronics as the world's top seller of smartphones.

Samsung has maintained its lead since it took over Apple in the smartphone market in 2011, managing to maintain its lead of wide range phones.

However, Samsung got put on its toes with Apple's release of the much-anticipated iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple sold 66.5 million iPhones in the quarter ended Dec 27, up 30% from a year earlier.

Apple is expected to disclose iPhone sales on Wednesday with quarterly financial results that are expected to include its most profitable quarter ever. Analysts are forecasting Apple to post revenue of $67.5 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, net income of $15.3 billion and earnings per share of $2.58, according to WSJ. Samsung reports its results on Friday.

Consumers waited a long time for new iPhone models with bigger displays, which proved popular other smartphone makers using the Android operating system. Samsung struggles to stand out from other brands using the Android operating system, whereas Apple benefits from having its own software, operating system, and its popularity among high-end consumers.

Moreover, Apple's phones are expensive. The iPhone 6 Plus is more expensive than its predecessor, and consumers are being enticed by bigger memory. The bigger memory makes it far more attractive to shell out an extra couple hundred bucks.