Canalys: iPhone outsold all Windows Mobile phones in Q2 2009
Apple's iPhone held onto a 13.7% share of global smartphone unit sales in the second quarter, outpacing Microsoft's Windows Mobile, which now claims just 9% of the market, according to Canalys.
"Apple has revolutionized the smart phone sector, leapfrogging more experienced rivals," Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham said in the company's report. Sales in the second quarter did not include much of the surge in new sales spurred by the release of the iPhone 3GS.
In the North American market, the iPhone grabbed a 23% share of smartphones sold, despite being tied to a single carrier in the US. Apple's US debut occurred months before sales were expanded to other countries, and international sales of iPhone really began a year later with the launch of the iPhone 3G. RIM held a commanding 52% share of US smartphones.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Nokia maintained a 64% share while Apple took second place with 13.6%, followed by third place RIM with 10.3%. Those numbers indicate Apple has been much better at competing internationally against Nokia than RIM has, despite its having been in the smartphone business for nearly a decade compared to Apple's barely two year old iPhone assault.
Worldwide, Nokia still leads smartphone sales with 44.3% of the market, but that represents a significant slide over the last few years. As recently as 2006, Nokia's Symbian platform accounted for over 72% of smartphones sold; now it represents just 50.3%.
Nokia has particularly lost ground among business users due to the popularity of RIM's BlackBerry, which now claims a 20.9% share of smartphones. Nokia recently announced a "partnership" with Microsoft, which largely just involves porting Pocket Office apps to Symbian in a bid to make Nokia's devices more competitive with the BlackBerry.
But Nokia is also being battered in consumer markets by Apple's popular iPhone, which in just two years has surpassed the sum total of all vendors' Windows Mobile sales put together as well as the remains of the once significant Palm. Apple's rapid success is particularly noteworthy when compared to Google's free Android platform, which in a similar period of time has only managed to leave its brand on 2.8% of the smartphone market.
Canalys also notes that the iPhone's touchscreen form factor is emerging as the most popular, representing nearly 40% of all smartphones sold, compared to 12.3% being keypad devices like the Palm Treo or BlackBerry and just 10.7% being keyboard devices like those sold by HTC using Windows Mobile.
The perils of a competitive landscape
Chris Jones, a Canalys VP and principal analyst, contrasted the emerging smartphone market with that of desktop computers, saying "PCs are a highly standardised, commoditised platform, where one model is often largely indistinguishable from another. Consequently, PC price points are incredibly low, which is good for customers, but the industry lacks excitement.
"Smart phones are different ? Nokia, Apple, RIM and Palm have all achieved success by developing their own operating systems and delivering distinct devices and interfaces. Android customisation will further add to this diverse mix. As a result, new smart phones are front page news around the world."
With healthy competition between platforms in the smartphone industry, Jones wrote that "independent application providers face the cumbersome process of porting apps to multiple operating systems. The main loser has been Microsoft?s highly standardised Windows Mobile platform. Its smart phone market share has now fallen below 10% and the trend is likely to continue as many of its OEM partners, including HTC, Motorola and Palm, are focusing investment on other platforms."
"Apple has revolutionized the smart phone sector, leapfrogging more experienced rivals," Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham said in the company's report. Sales in the second quarter did not include much of the surge in new sales spurred by the release of the iPhone 3GS.
In the North American market, the iPhone grabbed a 23% share of smartphones sold, despite being tied to a single carrier in the US. Apple's US debut occurred months before sales were expanded to other countries, and international sales of iPhone really began a year later with the launch of the iPhone 3G. RIM held a commanding 52% share of US smartphones.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Nokia maintained a 64% share while Apple took second place with 13.6%, followed by third place RIM with 10.3%. Those numbers indicate Apple has been much better at competing internationally against Nokia than RIM has, despite its having been in the smartphone business for nearly a decade compared to Apple's barely two year old iPhone assault.
Worldwide, Nokia still leads smartphone sales with 44.3% of the market, but that represents a significant slide over the last few years. As recently as 2006, Nokia's Symbian platform accounted for over 72% of smartphones sold; now it represents just 50.3%.
Nokia has particularly lost ground among business users due to the popularity of RIM's BlackBerry, which now claims a 20.9% share of smartphones. Nokia recently announced a "partnership" with Microsoft, which largely just involves porting Pocket Office apps to Symbian in a bid to make Nokia's devices more competitive with the BlackBerry.
But Nokia is also being battered in consumer markets by Apple's popular iPhone, which in just two years has surpassed the sum total of all vendors' Windows Mobile sales put together as well as the remains of the once significant Palm. Apple's rapid success is particularly noteworthy when compared to Google's free Android platform, which in a similar period of time has only managed to leave its brand on 2.8% of the smartphone market.
Canalys also notes that the iPhone's touchscreen form factor is emerging as the most popular, representing nearly 40% of all smartphones sold, compared to 12.3% being keypad devices like the Palm Treo or BlackBerry and just 10.7% being keyboard devices like those sold by HTC using Windows Mobile.
The perils of a competitive landscape
Chris Jones, a Canalys VP and principal analyst, contrasted the emerging smartphone market with that of desktop computers, saying "PCs are a highly standardised, commoditised platform, where one model is often largely indistinguishable from another. Consequently, PC price points are incredibly low, which is good for customers, but the industry lacks excitement.
"Smart phones are different ? Nokia, Apple, RIM and Palm have all achieved success by developing their own operating systems and delivering distinct devices and interfaces. Android customisation will further add to this diverse mix. As a result, new smart phones are front page news around the world."
With healthy competition between platforms in the smartphone industry, Jones wrote that "independent application providers face the cumbersome process of porting apps to multiple operating systems. The main loser has been Microsoft?s highly standardised Windows Mobile platform. Its smart phone market share has now fallen below 10% and the trend is likely to continue as many of its OEM partners, including HTC, Motorola and Palm, are focusing investment on other platforms."
Comments
The main loser has been Microsoft?s highly standardised Windows Mobile platform. Its smart phone market share has now fallen below 10% and the trend is likely to continue as many of its OEM partners, including HTC, Motorola and Palm, are focusing investment on other platforms."
Highly standardized ? How is Windows "highly standardized" when it's proprietary through and through ? It's not more standard than Symbian, WebOS or iPhoneOS...
Windows as a 1000 pounds gorilla, undoubtedly yes ! But as a standard ? No way !
(Wear absorbent clothing)
Highly standardized ? How is Windows "highly standardized" when it's proprietary through and through ? It's not more standard than Symbian, WebOS or iPhoneOS...
Windows as a 1000 pounds gorilla, undoubtedly yes ! But as a standard ? No way !
Standard level of design skill for M$ though
Microsoft needs to understand it's not the early 80s -- the world has changed.
Understanding it is not the 80s is one thing, having a clue what to do is another...
I get the feeling that Microsoft has a bunch of really smart people who have no direction. CEO Balmer gives every impression that he is a clueless buffoon. I truly feel sorry for the people who work for him...
Also mobile carriers do not subsizides the phones, so everyone pays full price. You have 1.04 Billion people in india (1/5 world population) and bigger mobile market in terms of people, then USA. Nokia are rampant in India with concern to meeting the low-middle income users.
At high end most people use Blackberry or iPhone (and probably Palm Pre, if it is launched in India).
Now take China and India together and you have 1/3 of world's population, that is massive market for low-middle income users.
If you analysis the figures Apple are doing very well, also Blackberry.
I must admit, I only got the iPhone, since it caters for my large hands (plus large screen) much better than the Blackberry, but both are top class phones.
If Blackberry made a iPhone clone, in terms of screen size, I would reconsider my decision, since RIM are solid and more established in business user security.
Ballmer in 2007: There?s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.
Its not just unintelligent people, who make stupid comments, he is very intelligent man, but very narrowed minded and once he opens his mouth, Apple sells product, he endorses.lol
MS' gross laziness and negligence when it comes to their consumer products has caught up with them again.
And it looks like they have no sane, comprehensive, workable plan to resurrect the mess that is Windows Mobile.
cf. http://www.canalys.com/pr/2008/r2008021.htm
Apple and RIM had 6.5% and 11.4% respectively.
Apple's rapid success is particularly noteworthy when compared to Google's free Android platform, which in a similar period of time has only managed to leave its brand on 2.8% of the smartphone market.
Android was released after the iPhone.
Anyone who thinks that Android won't have a larger share of the market than Apple in three years time is highly deluded.
Android was released after the iPhone.
Anyone who thinks that Android won't have a larger share of the market than Apple in three years time is highly deluded.
If --- and that's a big if --- Android hits it big, you probably won't like it because it only means one thing: carriers adopt Android because of the Apache license which allows the carriers to systematically take out all the interesting part and put in all the proprietary parts AND then keeps the source code all for themselves.
Anyone who thinks that Android won't have a larger share of the market than Apple in three years time is highly deluded.
Why stop there? Why not label anyone who doesn't think Android will beat Apple as clinically psychotic and probably suffers from microcephaly as well?
If most winmo phones don't support exchange and neither does the zune that's proof
Android was released after the iPhone.
Anyone who thinks that Android won't have a larger share of the market than Apple in three years time is highly deluded.
Why? I'm not sure I follow the logic but I'd like to. Looking at desktop penetration of Linux and Chrome market share, I'm not seeing it. But I'd honestly like to hear the argument for that scenario.
Is it because of the low cost to phone hardware manufacturers? Their ability to modify it to meet their business needs? That I might understand.
Ballmer in 2007: There?s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.
We all know Ballmer is still a growing boy and must eat his own words a lot.
Android was released after the iPhone.
Anyone who thinks that Android won't have a larger share of the market than Apple in three years time is highly deluded.
From the perspective of a consumer and a developer, what standard features can I depend on to be included in every Android phone.?
If Blackberry made a iPhone clone, in terms of screen size, I would reconsider my decision, since RIM are solid and more established in business user security.
Well, they already did: it's called the Blackberry Storm; it's pretty awful, and it hasn't exactly put a dent in iPhone sales.
I'm not a close follower of RIM's product roadmaps, but their touchscreen devices need a serious, serious rethink if they want to compete with Apple in that space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo
Balmer really will be the end of Microsoft...
Well, they already did: it's called the Blackberry Storm; it's pretty awful, and it hasn't exactly put a dent in iPhone sales.
I'm not a close follower of RIM's product roadmaps, but their touchscreen devices need a serious, serious rethink if they want to compete with Apple in that space.
Exactly. I have a BB as well as an iPhone, and the BB is just perfect for reading lots of business emails, and banging them out. But not much else...