Apple forecast to lead 2011 smartphone shipments with 86.4M iPhones
Apple is projected to lead all smartphone shipments at the conclusion of 2011 with 86.4 million units, an 82 percent increase from 2010.
Global smartphone shipments for this year are expected to reach 462 million units, according to the latest research from DigiTimes. That would be a 60 percent increase from the 288 million smartphones shipped in 2010.
Leading all vendors will be Apple, the analysis concluded, topping the 74.4 million units expected to be shipped by Nokia. Apple's forecasted 86.4 million units in 2011 would be up substantially from the 47.5 million iPhones the company shipped last year.
Nokia, meanwhile, would tumble significantly to fall to No. 2 worldwide. The Finnish handset maker shipped over 100 million smartphones in 2010, but is expected to fall while the rest of the industry sees tremendous growth.
Coming in third, according to the analysis, will be Samsung. The Korean company, which is involved in a bitter legal battle with Apple, is expected to see its shipments increase 44 percent to 67 million units.
Singled out as two "rising stars" in the smartphone industry were Huawei and ZTE, both based out of China. Huawei in particular is expected to see a 400 percent year-over-year rise in shipments.
In all, the top five smartphone makers -- Apple, Nokia, Samsung, Research in Motion and HTC -- are forecast to top 333 million units. Together, they would account for 72 percent of total units shipped in 2011.
Last quarter proved to be the best yet for Apple in terms of iPhone shipments, which reached 20.34 million. That represented a 142 percent year-over-year increase, helping to propel the company to $7.31 billion in profits.
Apple's strong iPhone sales came in spite of the fact that the company has opted for a later-than-usual release of its next-generation iPhone this year. Rumors have repeatedly pointed toward an October release for the company's so-called "iPhone 5."
Global smartphone shipments for this year are expected to reach 462 million units, according to the latest research from DigiTimes. That would be a 60 percent increase from the 288 million smartphones shipped in 2010.
Leading all vendors will be Apple, the analysis concluded, topping the 74.4 million units expected to be shipped by Nokia. Apple's forecasted 86.4 million units in 2011 would be up substantially from the 47.5 million iPhones the company shipped last year.
Nokia, meanwhile, would tumble significantly to fall to No. 2 worldwide. The Finnish handset maker shipped over 100 million smartphones in 2010, but is expected to fall while the rest of the industry sees tremendous growth.
Coming in third, according to the analysis, will be Samsung. The Korean company, which is involved in a bitter legal battle with Apple, is expected to see its shipments increase 44 percent to 67 million units.
Singled out as two "rising stars" in the smartphone industry were Huawei and ZTE, both based out of China. Huawei in particular is expected to see a 400 percent year-over-year rise in shipments.
In all, the top five smartphone makers -- Apple, Nokia, Samsung, Research in Motion and HTC -- are forecast to top 333 million units. Together, they would account for 72 percent of total units shipped in 2011.
Last quarter proved to be the best yet for Apple in terms of iPhone shipments, which reached 20.34 million. That represented a 142 percent year-over-year increase, helping to propel the company to $7.31 billion in profits.
Apple's strong iPhone sales came in spite of the fact that the company has opted for a later-than-usual release of its next-generation iPhone this year. Rumors have repeatedly pointed toward an October release for the company's so-called "iPhone 5."
Comments
My wife will not increase my monthly allowance.
I wonder what happens when they introduce the new iPod touch - that can also make calls and send texts
Wouldn't that make it an iPhone rather than an iPod Touch?
I'd rather see a 128GB iPod Touch so I can upgrade my iPod Classic at last.
I wonder what happens when they introduce the new iPod touch - that can also make calls and send texts
You could always make calls with the iPod Touch using Skype and with iOS 5 you'll be able to text, I think.
Wouldn't that make it an iPhone rather than an iPod Touch?
Yes, but it wouldn't make it the iPhone 5 necessarily.
Ask any Android fan and they will tell you that Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to the north pole...
You should ask these so-called Android fans to clarify what exactly they mean by said statement.
Im my opinion, iPhone is where it's at because you have a more consistent and reliable experience, better battery life and better quality Apps, and a better selection of Apps too.
Everyone besides me can buy whatever phone they want to.
You could always make calls with the iPod Touch using Skype and with iOS 5 you'll be able to text, I think.
You think?
The iPod touch has no 3G for a start, and even if it did you'd need a data contract to use the 3G for calls. And texts would be a hassle. If you are going to go down that road you may as well just make the iPod touch a fully-fledged phone. Which is what I believe they will do or at least should do.
In the current climate I believe the iPod touch no longer makes sense as a product. Which is why I think cheap Android phones are selling reasonably well.
Ask any Android fan and they will tell you that Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to the north pole ,even though recent reports show iOS having a 53% mobile share (all devices) world wide with Android third after JaveME. And they talk about our RDF.
FRAGMENTED MUCH? Should have been called Hemorrhoid seeing that its a pain in the a$$ to use!!!
Ask any Android fan and they will tell you that Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to the north pole ,even though recent reports show iOS having a 53% mobile share (all devices) world wide with Android third after JaveME. And they talk about our RDF.
No offense meant, and I'm not coming down on you specifically, but I'm really really sick of all the iOS/android debate.
Must be all of the OS battle fatigue from the 90s...
I project over 50 million iOS devices sold in the holiday quarter this year and with that I can confidently say that iOS aint going away, now or any time in the future.
As the parent of a 12 year old, I can say with certainty that the ipod touch is here to stay and will continue to grow. Kid's whose parents will not buy a cell phone can use the ipod touch for texting for free over wifi and the biggie have access to facebook and use facetime...Also now there are several app's out there that will assign a random phone number to use so yes, calls can be made over wifi with an ipod touch......just saying
You registered just to say that?
I think that I speak for us all when I say Welcome to AppleInsider.
Ask any Android fan and they will tell you that Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to the north pole ,even though recent reports show iOS having a 53% mobile share (all devices) world wide with Android third after JaveME. And they talk about our RDF.
Every time an Android fan argues market share they conveniently omit ipods and ipads. So, android, a platform comprised of multiple vendors selling hundreds of different handsets, is beating one product (out of several successful ones) from one company.
You registered just to say that?
I think that I speak for us all when I say Welcome to AppleInsider.
Indeed. Much better then the guy yesterday who registered just to post a list of tired Fandroid Cliches.
I wonder what happens when they introduce the new iPod touch - that can also make calls and send texts
You've been able to do that for years. In the bad old days, you needed Google Voice, a Gizmo5 SIP account and a SIP app like Acrobits Softphone (and eventually you could use Skype). You also needed a third-party microphone to plug into the dock connector for audio in. Since Apple didn't allow Google Voice apps at the time, you needed to use their crummy legacy mobile website.
Since the third-generation iPod touch, it's much easier. That model actually came with mic-equipped earphones.
Today, Gizmo5 SIP is no more, but all you need to do is configure Google Voice to run in the Google Chat plug-in on your desktop web browser instance of Google Mail. Make one successful call, then download the Talktatone app to your iDevice. Configure Google Voice on Talkatone and you're good to go for outgoing calls on your iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. Incoming calls are still a pain in the ass on the iPod touch and iPad, so I don't bother.
You can text with apps like Google Voice, GV Mobile+, VoiceCentral BlackSwan (HTML5 app) or a plethora of other SMS apps.
I've been making free outgoing calls on my iPod touch for a couple of years. Works great.
Seems very few here believe anything DigiTimes writes:
accuracy: n.
- The condition of information that makes the reader feel good.
What's your point?
[never mind... I put you on my ignore list]
You've been able to do that for years.
Free outgoing calls only, over WiFi, wow, how useful.