Worldwide smartphone sales reached the lowest growth rate, says Gartner
Worldwide smartphone sales totaled 36.5 million units in the third quarter of 2008, an 11.5% increase from the same period in 2007. The smartphone market is expected to continue to grow but at a slower pace during the current economic conditions, said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner.
Nokia maintained its top position with 42.4% market share in the third quarter of 2008, but for the first time it recorded a 3% on year sales decline. "Nokia is feeling the pressure from increased competition in the consumer smartphone market," said Cozza. "The company introduced solid N-series products with top features, but its lack of a commercial touch-screen device in its smartphone portfolio prevented Nokia from capitalizing from consumer demand for this feature. The recently announced N97 is a much needed evolution for the n9x series of products. It is unfortunate that the device will not be available before the first half of 2009 as this is a competitive product in today's market."
Sales of Research In Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry smartphones increased 81.7% in the third quarter of 2008. RIM continued to expand its presence within the consumer segment and refreshed its portfolio with new models and form factors. RIM sales will receive a boost from its new products in the fourth quarter. Analysts said the Storm is RIM's most important product launch to date and has the potential to be a major product for the company.
Apple regained its top-three position in the global smartphone market and improved its market share to 12.9% in the third quarter of 2008. Apple's shipments into the channel during the third quarter of 2008 approached seven million units. However, Apple built up around two million units of inventory and Gartner's sales unit estimate reflects this. Apple's sales increased more than four times compared to the same period in 2007 as a result of wider geographical availability, new business model and lower pricing.
For the smartphone OS market, Symbian commanded 49.8% market share in the third quarter of 2008, the first time it fell below 50%. Nokia's decline in smartphone sales during the third quarter, and continued weakness of the Japan mobile device market, have impacted Symbian's share. Gartner expects Symbian's share to continue to erode next year but maintain its leading position in the market.
The success of iPhone 3G sales in the third quarter of 2008 propelled Mac OS X to the top-three position in the global OS provider rankings. For the first time, iPhone sales exceeded sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices worldwide and in North America. In the shorter term, open-source initiatives like Android and Symbian Foundation will challenge Windows Mobile's licensing model. In addition, the lack of a competitive user interface will continue to limit Microsoft's mobile device usability when facing competitive consumer smartphones.
On a regional level, North America was the fastest growing market, with 68% growth in the third quarter of 2008. RIM and Apple did particularly well in the region with both vendors accounting for more than 70% of the smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008. Apple regained second position behind RIM with 25.4% market share. Smartphone sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) increased 14% on year. The region saw Nokia's share decline nearly eight percentage points in the third quarter of 2008 but still maintain its leading position and saw Apple gain the top-two spot with 15.6% share, moving in front of HTC and RIM.
The markets in Asia/Pacific and Japan declined 11% and 23% respectively. In Latin America, despite the decline in sales for all handsets, the smartphone market grew 56% in the third quarter of 2008. The sales were bolstered by the official introduction of Apple's iPhone 3G across a dozen countries.
Nokia maintained its top position with 42.4% market share in the third quarter of 2008, but for the first time it recorded a 3% on year sales decline. "Nokia is feeling the pressure from increased competition in the consumer smartphone market," said Cozza. "The company introduced solid N-series products with top features, but its lack of a commercial touch-screen device in its smartphone portfolio prevented Nokia from capitalizing from consumer demand for this feature. The recently announced N97 is a much needed evolution for the n9x series of products. It is unfortunate that the device will not be available before the first half of 2009 as this is a competitive product in today's market."
Sales of Research In Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry smartphones increased 81.7% in the third quarter of 2008. RIM continued to expand its presence within the consumer segment and refreshed its portfolio with new models and form factors. RIM sales will receive a boost from its new products in the fourth quarter. Analysts said the Storm is RIM's most important product launch to date and has the potential to be a major product for the company.
Apple regained its top-three position in the global smartphone market and improved its market share to 12.9% in the third quarter of 2008. Apple's shipments into the channel during the third quarter of 2008 approached seven million units. However, Apple built up around two million units of inventory and Gartner's sales unit estimate reflects this. Apple's sales increased more than four times compared to the same period in 2007 as a result of wider geographical availability, new business model and lower pricing.
For the smartphone OS market, Symbian commanded 49.8% market share in the third quarter of 2008, the first time it fell below 50%. Nokia's decline in smartphone sales during the third quarter, and continued weakness of the Japan mobile device market, have impacted Symbian's share. Gartner expects Symbian's share to continue to erode next year but maintain its leading position in the market.
The success of iPhone 3G sales in the third quarter of 2008 propelled Mac OS X to the top-three position in the global OS provider rankings. For the first time, iPhone sales exceeded sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices worldwide and in North America. In the shorter term, open-source initiatives like Android and Symbian Foundation will challenge Windows Mobile's licensing model. In addition, the lack of a competitive user interface will continue to limit Microsoft's mobile device usability when facing competitive consumer smartphones.
On a regional level, North America was the fastest growing market, with 68% growth in the third quarter of 2008. RIM and Apple did particularly well in the region with both vendors accounting for more than 70% of the smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008. Apple regained second position behind RIM with 25.4% market share. Smartphone sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) increased 14% on year. The region saw Nokia's share decline nearly eight percentage points in the third quarter of 2008 but still maintain its leading position and saw Apple gain the top-two spot with 15.6% share, moving in front of HTC and RIM.
The markets in Asia/Pacific and Japan declined 11% and 23% respectively. In Latin America, despite the decline in sales for all handsets, the smartphone market grew 56% in the third quarter of 2008. The sales were bolstered by the official introduction of Apple's iPhone 3G across a dozen countries.
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