Apple among top 5 global cell phone makers for second straight quarter

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2015
New data from IDC shows that Apple is among the top 5 mobile phone sellers worldwide for the second quarter in a row, though it slipped from fourth to fifth place.



Last year marked a major milestone for the Cupertino, Calif., iPhone maker, when IDC's third quarter 2010 data bumped the company from the smaller top smartphone vendor lists to the number 4 spot on the list of the five largest mobile phone vendors, passing BlackBerry maker Research in Motion on the way.



According to a report from IDC published Thursday, Apple posted 86 percent year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2010, giving it a 4 percent share of the market and the fifth-place spot among global vendors. Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics and ZTE took the other top spots, respectively.



The main mover last quarter was Chinese manufacturer ZTE, which leapt up from the "Other" category to the number 4 spot. ZTE's unit shipments of 16.8 million bested Apple's 16.2 million, though the iPhone's Average Selling Price of $625 is undoubtedly higher than ZTE's handsets, most of which are traditional feature phones.



ZTE has, however, seen unit growth with its smartphone offerings. "While most of [ZTE's] shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices," IDC said.



RIM's 35 percent growth rate wasn't enough to keep it on the list of top mobile phone vendors. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in October last year that he doesn't see RIM catching up to his company "in the foreseeable future."



Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker



Apple's iPhone market share growth has been constrained due to supply issues. During the company's Q1 for fiscal 2011, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook admitted that Apple continues to have a "sizable backlog" on the iPhone and could have sold more if they were able to make more. China, in particular, represents a golden opportunity for the iPhone maker, as the iPhone 4 remains sold out in the country four months after the device's launch.



In 2011, the Feb. 10 launch of a CDMA iPhone on Verizon could help boost Apple's sales figures. One recent survey estimated that Verizon could pick up as many as 25 million new subscribers with the iPhone, though the figure is only a "directional" number, not a prediction.



According to IDC, the worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9 percent in the December 2010 quarter, a significant improvement over the 2009 market decline of 1.6%.



"The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles."



IDC also noted that the fourth and fifth place spots on the list will likely be up for grabs this year. "Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    ZTE - Chinese corporation that designs and manufactures telecommunications equipment and systems and tablets. (Wikipedia)



    THat explains how they can have a high market share, and yet i've never heard of them before. We've always known chinese can make good hardware knockoffs, but their software was always sub-par. Now that Android is free and "open", that is no longer an issue, and I expect to see at least one Chinese company to rise up to the level of at least LG or even samsung in the next few years. Perhaps it will be ZTE.



    I guess HTC might count, though they are not mainland and as far as I can understand still independent of PRC.
  • Reply 2 of 25
    Umm according to the chart, Apple was 5th a year ago and still is this year. They didn't slip as the article is titled.



  • Reply 3 of 25
    sensisensi Posts: 346member
    At least it helps put things into perspective: Nokia while announced "dead" still sale the same than the three others top vendors combined, and Apple -despite all the media heavy free advertising and pandering- has 4% market share and may soon shifts down out of the top 5.
  • Reply 4 of 25
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,755member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sensi View Post


    and Apple -despite all the media heavy free advertising and pandering- has 4% market share and may soon shifts down out of the top 5.



    And even if they do it should be obvious that Apple, with ONLY premium products and not basically throw away feature phones that make up the bulk of those other numbers is as high as they are.



    You can marginalize them if you like, but you just show yourself the fool - not Apple.
  • Reply 5 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sensi View Post


    At least it helps put things into perspective: Nokia while announced "dead" still sale the same than the three others top vendors combined, and Apple -despite all the media heavy free advertising and pandering- has 4% market share and may soon shifts down out of the top 5.



    Doubtful once the CDMA and LTE variants of the iPhone come out. If Apple can strike the deal with China Mobile, you'll see Apple's marketshare greatly increase.
  • Reply 6 of 25
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    They better work out those supple issues if they want to meet demand for Verizon iPhones. Same with the pent-up demand for the white iPhone when that gets released (if ever).
  • Reply 7 of 25
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sensi View Post


    At least it helps put things into perspective: Nokia while announced "dead" still sale the same than the three others top vendors combined,



    No they sell LESS than the next three vendors combined.

    And there is no "still" about it. Last year Nokia sold more than the next FOUR vendors combined.



    Take a look the chart above.







    Quote:

    and Apple -despite all the media heavy free advertising and pandering- has 4% market share and may soon shifts down out of the top 5.



    Take a look the chart above. 86.2% vs 17.9%.

    Perhaps you're just not good with numbers?
  • Reply 8 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    No they sell LESS than the next three vendors combined.

    And there is no "still" about it. Last year Nokia sold more than the next FOUR vendors combined.



    Take a look the chart above.











    Take a look the chart above. 86.2% vs 17.9%.

    Perhaps you're just not good with numbers?



    Or perhaps you're not good at reading charts. 4Q10 Marketshare for Apple is 4.0%
  • Reply 9 of 25
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    Has anyone figured out a way to classify iPads and MacBooks as cell phones?
  • Reply 10 of 25
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    I'm not surprised by ZTE's rise. I'm still trying to work out how they can afford to sell a 800x480 pixel OLED capacitive touchscreen Android phone in the UK for £99 (about $130 before tax) contract-free. Surely it must cost more than that to manufacturer!
  • Reply 11 of 25
    erunnoerunno Posts: 225member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Haggar View Post


    Has anyone figured out a way to classify iPads and MacBooks as cell phones?



    Thanks for the laugh.
  • Reply 12 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmillermcp View Post


    Or perhaps you're not good at reading charts. 4Q10 Marketshare for Apple is 4.0%





    Apple 4Q10 Market share is shown on the "chart" as 4.0% -- which says nothing at all about growth rate.



    Comparing 4Q10 with 4Q09, that 4% share is 86.2% higher than a year ago (16.2 million phones v. 8.7 million), whereas the top five together grew from 340.5 million to 401.4 million, only 17.9% higher.



    Chart reading 101.
  • Reply 13 of 25
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    This isn't, of course, smartphone marketshare. It's all the dinky stuff.



    Nokia is, rather an example of why Android does not matter. Apple is 4% of the total market, 20% of the smartphone market and 80% of the app Market.



    That's the new paradigm. A phone can be a phone, or a mobile computer. Only Apple and Android are really the latter. Only the ZTE's price is worrying, Apple need to keep the 3GS and discount it in June.



    They can sell the iPod touch at £189 in the uk.
  • Reply 14 of 25
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmillermcp View Post


    Or perhaps you're not good at reading charts. 4Q10 Marketshare for Apple is 4.0%



    What's your problem? You posted the bloody chart!



    Yes... and 4% represents a pretty good growth from 2.6%.

    And when smartphone growth is much faster than dumb phone growth.... and iPhone is growing faster than both.... then it's unlikely that Apple's share of the whole market is going to drop any time soon.
  • Reply 15 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    What's your problem?



    My bad, you just seemed to come down on the other guy pretty hard. Indeed, Apple's year-over-year growth is stellar but we haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until China Mobile and their 570 million customers get their hands on them. Now that will be some spectacular growth.



    Meanwhile Nokia, LG and RIM are losing customer after customer.
  • Reply 16 of 25
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sensi View Post


    At least it helps put things into perspective: Nokia while announced "dead" still sale the same than the three others top vendors combined, and Apple -despite all the media heavy free advertising and pandering- has 4% market share and may soon shifts down out of the top 5.



    It?s hyperbolishious to claim Nokia is dead, but they are rudderless and sinking. They are losing a lot of marketshare. 37% to 30% YoY is significant, and even worse when we?re talking about units, not dollars. The chart shows they are not just growing more slowly then the handset industry, but shrinking.



    They don?t have any significant presence in what are typically considered pinnacle markets. They have no smartphones that are considered great compared to their competition. If they had regrouped and had focused on selling units, but higher-end units the way Moto did that would be something? but that simply isn?t the case.



    Remember, this is all handset sales, not just smartphones, so Nokia?s number is mostly comprised of dumbphones whilst Apple?s numbers are all composed of smartphones. Just like the PC market, Apple is besting everyone else despite selling less units.



    Nokia needs help. Help that will likely take years of development before they are ready to be reborn. The question is will they swallow their pride and do what is necessary to become successful again?
  • Reply 17 of 25
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    They don?t have any significant presence in what are typically considered pinnacle markets. They have no smartphones that are considered great compared to their competition. If they had regrouped and had focused on selling units, but higher-end units the way Moto did that would be something? but that simply isn?t the case.



    I don't think following Moto's lead is the way to go. Moto's phone division still isn't making any significant profit.



    For all of Nokia's problems, they're at least still making a reasonable decent (though shrinking) profit.
  • Reply 18 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sensi View Post


    At least it helps put things into perspective: Nokia while announced "dead" still sale the same than the three others top vendors combined, and Apple -despite all the media heavy free advertising and pandering- has 4% market share and may soon shifts down out of the top 5.



    In case you forgot here is more perspective:

    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._on_earth.html



    and how about even more:

    http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=...AQ:AAPL&ntsp=0
  • Reply 19 of 25
    grkinggrking Posts: 533member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ericography View Post


    In case you forgot here is more perspective:

    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._on_earth.html



    and how about even more:

    http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=...AQ:AAPL&ntsp=0



    and for ever more perspective



    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._earnings.html
  • Reply 20 of 25
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmillermcp View Post


    Or perhaps you're not good at reading charts. 4Q10 Marketshare for Apple is 4.0%



    I remember they were originally shooting for 1% global market share, which seemed ambitious at the time with a smart phone.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichL View Post


    I don't think following Moto's lead is the way to go. Moto's phone division still isn't making any significant profit.



    For all of Nokia's problems, they're at least still making a reasonable decent (though shrinking) profit.



    If they'd advertise in the US, maybe they'd get a smart phone market share in the US too. Nokia USA's retail footprint for smart phones is negligible. The only touch screen model I can find outside of their web site is $300 with 4GB of storage included.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    And when smartphone growth is much faster than dumb phone growth.... and iPhone is growing faster than both.... then it's unlikely that Apple's share of the whole market is going to drop any time soon.



    I don't think "dumb" phone is an appropriate way to call it, the better term is feature phone.
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