HTC has apparently exceeded Nokia, the behemoth OEM of the North, in market capitalization, according to a report released today by Bloomberg.

A 5.3 percent gain of HTC shares bumped the company’s value to $33.8 billion, just above Nokia’s $33.6 billion valuation.

HTC stock has tripled over the past year, according to Bloomberg, as the company grew at a pace that was more than double the overall.

According to numbers from research firm Nielsen, HTC emerged as the leading Android OEM in January 2011, with 12 percent of all smartphone users having an HTC-branded Android phone.

Nielsen concluded that HTC was the third top smartphone OEM when taking into account that it grabbed 7 percent of the total 10 percent of Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7 share. In the end, HTC emerged with 19 percent of the total smartphone market.

Nokia, on the other hand, has been dealing with a much-publicized upheaval. At a February press event, the company announced that it would be changing directions, adopting Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system as its main platform for future smartphones.

Over the past year, Nokia’s stock has dropped from just below $16 to $9 per share.