Smartphone sales jump 50%, Apple 3rd largest vendor globally
Global sales of smartphones surged by 50%, growing from 35.9 million units in the year ago quarter to 54 million units in the first quarter of 2010, the strongest growth rate in several years.
A report by MarketWatch cited figures released by Strategy Analytics, which said smartphones now make up 18% of all mobile phone sales.
Strong sales of smartphones are "driven by healthy operator subsidies, competition between vendors, and a rising number of cheaper models," the report noted, citing Android and Symbian specifically as operating system platforms fueling growth in low cost handsets.
Smartphone makers are not all competing in the same markets however. Strategy Analytics said that "some smartphone vendors, such as Nokia, will chase growing mid-tier volumes in emerging markets such as China and India," while "brands, such as Motorola will focus on mature markets like the US."
Motorola has returned to profitability after giving up high volumes of mobile phone sales to focus on higher-end smartphones like the Android-based Droid/Milestone, which is often described as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone.
Meanwhile, Nokia is struggling to retain its leadership position by focusing on emerging markets. The company sold a record 21.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, but it largely sold cheaper models "in regions including China and South America, while North America remained a 'problem child' for the company," the report stated.
Behind Nokia, RIM sold 10.6 million BlackBerries, keeping Apple in third place globally with its record 8.8 million iPhone sales for the quarter. Apple's share of smartphone sales for the quarter, at 16.4%, is up from the 14.4% share it earned in general during 2009 and up from 10.6% in the year ago quarter.
Apple's growth in the first quarter made it the number one mobile vendor among all US phone makers. Globally, Apple reached a record high of 3% global market share among all mobile phone makers.
RIM's second-place share, at 19.7%, remained relatively static, falling slightly from its 20.3% of the smartphone market in the year ago quarter. Nokia's smartphone sales are up from 38.2% in the year ago quarter to 40% this year. Nokia's definition of smartphones includes a variety of simple, low cost phones that mostly run Symbian.
A report by MarketWatch cited figures released by Strategy Analytics, which said smartphones now make up 18% of all mobile phone sales.
Strong sales of smartphones are "driven by healthy operator subsidies, competition between vendors, and a rising number of cheaper models," the report noted, citing Android and Symbian specifically as operating system platforms fueling growth in low cost handsets.
Smartphone makers are not all competing in the same markets however. Strategy Analytics said that "some smartphone vendors, such as Nokia, will chase growing mid-tier volumes in emerging markets such as China and India," while "brands, such as Motorola will focus on mature markets like the US."
Motorola has returned to profitability after giving up high volumes of mobile phone sales to focus on higher-end smartphones like the Android-based Droid/Milestone, which is often described as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone.
Meanwhile, Nokia is struggling to retain its leadership position by focusing on emerging markets. The company sold a record 21.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, but it largely sold cheaper models "in regions including China and South America, while North America remained a 'problem child' for the company," the report stated.
Behind Nokia, RIM sold 10.6 million BlackBerries, keeping Apple in third place globally with its record 8.8 million iPhone sales for the quarter. Apple's share of smartphone sales for the quarter, at 16.4%, is up from the 14.4% share it earned in general during 2009 and up from 10.6% in the year ago quarter.
Apple's growth in the first quarter made it the number one mobile vendor among all US phone makers. Globally, Apple reached a record high of 3% global market share among all mobile phone makers.
RIM's second-place share, at 19.7%, remained relatively static, falling slightly from its 20.3% of the smartphone market in the year ago quarter. Nokia's smartphone sales are up from 38.2% in the year ago quarter to 40% this year. Nokia's definition of smartphones includes a variety of simple, low cost phones that mostly run Symbian.
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Edit: 7.8M
"For the first quarter of 2010, Nokia is still the number one global mobile phone company with 36.6 percent market share, followed by Samsung with 21.8 percent, LG with 9.2 percent, and RIM and Sony Ericsson tied at 3.6 percent."
RIM Is First Smartphone Vendor to Crack Top Five Manufacturers
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363287,00.asp
Nokia's definition of smartphones includes a variety of simple, low cost phones that mostly run Symbian.
Nokia's "smartphones." Low-cost, commodity crapware.
Looks like the CEO could get canned. #1 has a vastly different meaning when your products suck and you exist merely to flood the market with more forgettable flotsam.
http://www.electronista.com/articles...ling.vs.apple/
Nokia's "smartphones." Low-cost, commodity crapware.
What about the N900? I've seen some good reviews. And they have a new one, the N8, with the new OS, which has gotten rave reviews:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20003916-56.html
Unless Apple makes a cheap "disposable" phone, they will never beat Nokia.
The big competition here is Apple and RIM. Both only make Smartphones. That slick iPhone 4G better be slick and cheap. Hopefully Apple will continue to sell the 3G with an on contract list price of $50 or less. If they do the 3G for $50, the 3GS for $100 and 4G for $200, they will really be able to clean up.
The big competition here is Apple and RIM. Both only make Smartphones. That slick iPhone 4G better be slick and cheap.
Apple has big-time competition from Motorola, RIM, Nokia, and especially these days, HTC. All of them make smartphones which appeal to millions of people.
Next onto the playing field is Dell, who will be releasing 5 major-league phones shortly.
The next 18 months will be very interesting, and very good for consumers.
What about the N900? I've seen some good reviews. And they have a new one, the N8, with the new OS, which has gotten rave reviews:
Loks like another Nokia fail.
What's with the nasty OS?
When is Nokia finally going to leave Synbian? It's bloody horrible. Both to use and develop for.
Too bad they are losing market share on the PC market.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20003916-56.html
Unless Apple makes a cheap "disposable" phone, they will never beat Nokia.
The big competition here is Apple and RIM. Both only make Smartphones. That slick iPhone 4G better be slick and cheap. Hopefully Apple will continue to sell the 3G with an on contract list price of $50 or less. If they do the 3G for $50, the 3GS for $100 and 4G for $200, they will really be able to clean up.
Why do they need to beat Nokia in market share?! What does higher market share means for customers? Are they going to get more apps? Apple is already the most profitable phone maker and they already established the largest apps echo system. There is no point of beating anyone as long as your are the most profitable. This "Apple need to beat Nokia/MS/RIM" is silly.
Loks like another Nokia fail.
What's with the nasty OS?
When is Nokia finally going to leave Synbian? It's bloody horrible. Both to use and develop for.
The king of unusable design still don't get it. They still think the longer the specs sheet the better the products is.
What about the N900? I've seen some good reviews. And they have a new one, the N8, with the new OS, which has gotten rave reviews:
The N900 is a geek device and partly experimental, not even Nokia suggests it for regular users. We had a testing sample for 2 weeks and it is what you expect from Nokia: unusable without a 100+ page manual and barely usable with that manual...
I have only seen one N8 review so far by a Russian site. The verdict was that the reviewer suspects sabotage from Nokia employees to be the only valid explanation for that...
Too bad they are losing market share on the PC market.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20003916-56.html
Unless Apple makes a cheap "disposable" phone, they will never beat Nokia.
The big competition here is Apple and RIM. Both only make Smartphones. That slick iPhone 4G better be slick and cheap. Hopefully Apple will continue to sell the 3G with an on contract list price of $50 or less. If they do the 3G for $50, the 3GS for $100 and 4G for $200, they will really be able to clean up.
The article you have quoted has already been updated, IDC and Gartner can't agree on sales figures again. Gartner sees Apple up.
Apple will certainly not continue to sell the 3G, as it is not fully supported by the newest version of the iPhone OS. The 3GS might take the 3G's spot though. They do not need to "clean up", they are the most profitable phone maker in the world already. Why would they ruin that just to have some bragging rights?
The article you have quoted has already been updated, IDC and Gartner can't agree on sales figures again. Gartner sees Apple up.
Apple will certainly not continue to sell the 3G, as it is not fully supported by the newest version of the iPhone OS. The 3GS might take the 3G's spot though. They do not need to "clean up", they are the most profitable phone maker in the world already. Why would they ruin that just to have some bragging rights?
Wow! That didn't last long. I was pretty surprised that Apple would lose anything these days. What was originally called the "iPod effect" has only grown to the iPhone and now iPad effect.
I still think that Apple will keep the 3G around. The fact that the hardware supposedly can't run the latest features of OS4 is even more of a reason for Apple to keep selling it to the lower end market. It will ensure that there is a bigger difference to step up the the 3GS or 4G. Its the MacBook in a MacBook Pro world.
My first (and 2nd, 3rd & 4th) PC was a Macintosh in the 80's. I switched to Windows in College because of the cost. I'll be switching back to Mac when the Air gets updated next. I travel too much to deal with anything 15" or bigger. If only the 13" MBP got the Core iX series of processors...
I have only seen one N8 review so far by a Russian site. The verdict was that the reviewer suspects sabotage from Nokia employees to be the only valid explanation for that...
That wasn't a review, it was a rant from a person who has a history of not liking Nokia who happened to "acquire" a pre-released phone
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/prod...#view=features
What about the N900? I've seen some good reviews. And they have a new one, the N8, with the new OS, which has gotten rave reviews:
Nokia's definition of smartphones includes a variety of simple, low cost phones that mostly run Symbian.
What are missing from those phones which mean they should be called smartphones?
N8, yawn, been done before:-
You mean like how hardly anything in the iPhone is original?
The N900 is a geek device and partly experimental, not even Nokia suggests it for regular users. We had a testing sample for 2 weeks and it is what you expect from Nokia: unusable without a 100+ page manual and barely usable with that manual...
Maybe, but the point I was responding to claimed low price, low quality crapware.