Apple grows to 7.9% of all mobile phones sold worldwide
Though it only sells smartphones, Apple represents nearly 8 percent of all worldwide mobile phone sales, making it the third-largest handset maker.
Research firm Gartner on Wednesday announced its latest mobile device data for the first quarter of calendar 2012. It found that Apple's 33.1 million iPhones sold accounted for 7.9 percent of the total mobile phone market.
Gartner's data represents worldwide mobile device sales to end users, not shipments. It should be noted that the 33.1 million iPhones that Gartner says Apple sold is off by two million from the 35.1 million Apple itself reported last month.
Apple's share more than doubled from the first quarter of 2011, when the company sold 16.8 million iPhones and represented 3.9 percent of all mobile device sales, Gartner's data shows.
The first quarter of 2012 represented a major shift in the market, as Samsung overtook Nokia, which had been the market leader since 1998, to become the No. 1 mobile device company in the world. Samsung's 86.6 million units sold took 20.7 percent of the market, while Nokia was in second with 83.2 million units, or 19.8 percent share.
Gartner's research also concluded that Samsung sold the most smartphones during the quarter, with its 38 million besting the 33.1 million iPhones shipped by Apple.
Apple's 7.9 percent share put it squarely in third place, well behind Nokia but still comfortably ahead of ZTE, which sold 17.4 million units in the quarter and took 4.2 percent of the market. In fifth was LG, which sold 14.7 million handsets for a 3.5 percent share.
Huawei came in sixth in the first three months of 2012, selling 10.8 million handsets and earning a 2.6 percent slice of the market. That was enough to beat out seventh-place Research in Motion, which saw its market share fall from 3 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to just 2.4 percent in the same period in 2012, with sales of 9.9 million handsets.
Motorola came in eighth, selling 8.4 million handsets and taking a 2 percent share, while Sony Mobile Communications was close behind with 7.9 million sold and 1.9 percent of the market. Rounding out the top 10 was HTC, which sold 7.7 million devices and represented 1.8 percent of the market.
Total worldwide mobile phone sales in the first quarter of 2011 were 419.1 million units, which was a 2 percent decline from the first quarter of 2011, Gartner said. It's the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market saw a decline.
The biggest gainers during the first quarter were Apple, Samsung and ZTE. In addition to RIM and Nokia, Motorola, LG, and HTC all saw their share of the market shrink from the first quarter of 2011.
Unsurprisingly, market growth is being driven by smartphones. Gartner found that there were a total of 144.4 million smartphones sold to end users in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 44.7 percent year over year.
Together, Apple and Samsung accounted for 49.3 percent of all smartphone sales worldwide, well above the 29.3 percent the two collectively represented in the first quarter of 2011.
Among smartphone operating systems, Apple's iOS saw a year-over-year increase from 16.9 percent share in the first quarter of 2011 to 22.9 percent share to kick off 2012. Android also grew share in what has become a two-horse race, and represented 56.1 percent of smartphones sold to users.
Nokia, which abandoned its own Symbian smartphone platform for Microsoft's Windows Phone, saw Symbian plummet from 27.7 percent of device sales in 2011 to just 8.6 percent in 2012. Those losses were not turned into Microsoft's gain, however, as its share of smartphone operating systems also dropped from 2.6 percent in 2011 to 1.9 percent in 2012.
Research in Motion also saw its presence slide from 13 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to 6.9 percent in the same period in 2012.
The only gainer outside of iOS and Android was Samsung's Bada platform. It grew year over year from 1.9 percent to 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012, Gartner found.
Research firm Gartner on Wednesday announced its latest mobile device data for the first quarter of calendar 2012. It found that Apple's 33.1 million iPhones sold accounted for 7.9 percent of the total mobile phone market.
Gartner's data represents worldwide mobile device sales to end users, not shipments. It should be noted that the 33.1 million iPhones that Gartner says Apple sold is off by two million from the 35.1 million Apple itself reported last month.
Apple's share more than doubled from the first quarter of 2011, when the company sold 16.8 million iPhones and represented 3.9 percent of all mobile device sales, Gartner's data shows.
The first quarter of 2012 represented a major shift in the market, as Samsung overtook Nokia, which had been the market leader since 1998, to become the No. 1 mobile device company in the world. Samsung's 86.6 million units sold took 20.7 percent of the market, while Nokia was in second with 83.2 million units, or 19.8 percent share.
Gartner's research also concluded that Samsung sold the most smartphones during the quarter, with its 38 million besting the 33.1 million iPhones shipped by Apple.
Apple's 7.9 percent share put it squarely in third place, well behind Nokia but still comfortably ahead of ZTE, which sold 17.4 million units in the quarter and took 4.2 percent of the market. In fifth was LG, which sold 14.7 million handsets for a 3.5 percent share.
Huawei came in sixth in the first three months of 2012, selling 10.8 million handsets and earning a 2.6 percent slice of the market. That was enough to beat out seventh-place Research in Motion, which saw its market share fall from 3 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to just 2.4 percent in the same period in 2012, with sales of 9.9 million handsets.
Motorola came in eighth, selling 8.4 million handsets and taking a 2 percent share, while Sony Mobile Communications was close behind with 7.9 million sold and 1.9 percent of the market. Rounding out the top 10 was HTC, which sold 7.7 million devices and represented 1.8 percent of the market.
Total worldwide mobile phone sales in the first quarter of 2011 were 419.1 million units, which was a 2 percent decline from the first quarter of 2011, Gartner said. It's the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market saw a decline.
The biggest gainers during the first quarter were Apple, Samsung and ZTE. In addition to RIM and Nokia, Motorola, LG, and HTC all saw their share of the market shrink from the first quarter of 2011.
Unsurprisingly, market growth is being driven by smartphones. Gartner found that there were a total of 144.4 million smartphones sold to end users in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 44.7 percent year over year.
Together, Apple and Samsung accounted for 49.3 percent of all smartphone sales worldwide, well above the 29.3 percent the two collectively represented in the first quarter of 2011.
Among smartphone operating systems, Apple's iOS saw a year-over-year increase from 16.9 percent share in the first quarter of 2011 to 22.9 percent share to kick off 2012. Android also grew share in what has become a two-horse race, and represented 56.1 percent of smartphones sold to users.
Nokia, which abandoned its own Symbian smartphone platform for Microsoft's Windows Phone, saw Symbian plummet from 27.7 percent of device sales in 2011 to just 8.6 percent in 2012. Those losses were not turned into Microsoft's gain, however, as its share of smartphone operating systems also dropped from 2.6 percent in 2011 to 1.9 percent in 2012.
Research in Motion also saw its presence slide from 13 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to 6.9 percent in the same period in 2012.
The only gainer outside of iOS and Android was Samsung's Bada platform. It grew year over year from 1.9 percent to 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012, Gartner found.
Comments
I look forward to that percentage increasing
Who does not love Gartner. Even when Samsung does not reveal number of phones 'sold', Gartner knows it's 86,567.6. And especially the .6 makes it so much more believable ;-).
And who is buying these RIM phones. Haven't seen a new one/model in almost 2 years on the street...
Wall Street has modeled Apple's valuation for $0 growth, so don't get your hopes up. It appears that Apple will hold 7.9% global cellphone market share forever.
Apple should invest it's profits into opening up plants here so their devices are made in America.
Heck, I bet they would sell even MORE in China. I just saw a 20/20 report saying "Made in America" is selling big over there with their booming middle class
Quote:
Originally Posted by macspotter
Who does not love Gartner. Even when Samsung does not reveal number of phones 'sold', Gartner knows it's 86,567.6. And especially the .6 makes it so much more believable ;-).
And who is buying these RIM phones. Haven't seen a new one/model in almost 2 years on the street...
Blackberry phones are still pretty common. Plenty of companies still issue it as the corporate phone.
Ridiculous! Opening plants In the US makes no sense at all for so many reasons which have been covered over and over again. Try to educate yourself before you make such ignorant statements. As to China, they rightfully perceive that Apple is a US company and brand. There is no confusion on that point. That is what they want. It doesn't matter where it's made. I know - I'm an American living in China.
Apparently not. Or at least in dramatically decreasing numbers!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chronster
Apple should invest it's profits into opening up plants here so their devices are made in America.
Heck, I bet they would sell even MORE in China. I just saw a 20/20 report saying "Made in America" is selling big over there with their booming middle class
That's right, the unions should get their grubby hands on Apple as well so we can all buy $2000 iPhones
A report on a different thread indicated that the number of different Android handsets was many thousands of different phones. You'd think that eventually someone would catch on and realize that the expense of developing, marketing, and supporting a near-infinite variety of phones is not justified by the increased number of units sold (which explains why Samsung is AFAIK the only handset maker besides Apple who is making money).
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
I wonder why the handset makers never learned any lessons from this. Apple has 8% of the entire phone market - and 30% or so of the smartphone market where they compete with just 3 models that are upgraded once a year. They're also making money hand over fist.
A report on a different thread indicated that the number of different Android handsets was many thousands of different phones. You'd think that eventually someone would catch on and realize that the expense of developing, marketing, and supporting a near-infinite variety of phones is not justified by the increased number of units sold (which explains why Samsung is AFAIK the only handset maker besides Apple who is making money).
Shhhhhhhh ... don't tell them
I still think the thing to remember is that Apple has a lot more than 8% of the volume by dollar sales. The average selling price of the iPhone is over $600 while the other companies are selling $300 or less per phone because they are selling a significant number of feature phones. Apple is actually holding more like 12-15% of the market by that metric. The smart phone segment is actually growing sales for sell phone suppliers by raising average purchase prices so the market itself is growing as well. It is also important to recognize that Apple depends on growing markets for its huge profits and margins. In the high end PC market Apple holds 90% of the market. I suspect that the high end of the smartphone is headed in that direction.
I am an Apple bull as far as that goes, but believing that Apple only holds 8% of their target markets is just not true. The real long term story of Apple is in China, the iPad and future innovation and growth of their current markets. I can understand why the stock market keeps getting surprised by Apple's growth. We don't live in the GoGo 90's we live in the doubtful teens. My real reason for wanting to invest more in Apple and other stocks is that it has value that is not recognized. I don't care if the market "rewards" Apple as long as the bank account and dividends keep growing. Listen to Warren Buffet. Don't become a fan, keep your eye on the ball and watch our world grow out of all the doubts. Fear is your friend in the market.
I question Gartner's numbers. Apple announces their sales numbers and yet Gartner still reported the wrong number. Everybody else's numbers are estimates. If Gartner can't get the reported numbers right what does that say about the estimates and the market share numbers they report?