Android smartphones made up 56% of the global smartphones sold to end users in the first quarter of 2012, giving them a far higher share than the 22.9% held by Apple’s runner-up iPhone, Gartner said Wednesday.

According to Gartner’s data, Samsung was by far the biggest Android smartphone maker as its devices accounted for nearly 44% of Android-based smartphone sales. The other Android vendors, including HTC or Motorola, were all at 10% or less, Gartner said.

Simply, the latest Gartner data indicates that the sales of Samsung Android smartphones have beaten those of Apple’s iPhone during the first quarter. In total, 144.3 million smartphones were sold – 44 million more than were sold in Q1 2011.