Android led the global smartphone market for the second quarter running, with 35.7 million units shipped in the first quarter increasing its share to 35 percent, according to a study by Canalys. At the same time, APAC became the largest smartphone market region, with year-on-year growth of 98 percent to 37.3 million units, putting it ahead of EMEA for the first time since Q3 2007. EMEA grew 67 percent year-on-year to 32.6 million units, North America grew 85 percent to 24.7 million units and Latin America grew 86 percent to 6.5 million units. On a country basis, mainland China, South Korea and India delivered strong volumes and registered triple-digit growth. Overall, worldwide smartphone shipments grew 83 percent to 101 million units.
Though its market share shrank from 39 percent a year ago to 24 percent in Q1, Nokia held onto its worldwide leadership position with 24.2 million units shipped, a 13 percent year-on-year rise, staying ahead of RIM in EMEA and Apple in APAC. APAC became the largest region for Nokia, accounting for 53 percent of its overall shipments, overtaking EMEA by more than 3 million units. Nokia remains number one in 28 countries, including mainland China, where it grew 79 percent to 8.9 million units, due in part to Chinese New Year shipments. At a platform level, Android's continued dominance was boosted by performances by a number of vendors. HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson drove Android shipments in the first quarter, with each vendor shipping well over 3 million devices. Samsung also shipped nearly 3.5 million bada operating system-based smartphones, outperforming total shipments of Windows Phone devices by more than a million units. Samsung's own operating system development, combined with the branding and investment in its Wave smartphones at mid-tier prices, has led to an uptake in developed markets, such as France, the UK and Germany.
Nokia, Apple, RIM, Samsung and HTC were the top five global smartphone vendors, as in Q4 2010. Apple continued to make market share gains, reaching 19 percent. RIM’s share, however, dropped in Q1, as its portfolio awaited a refresh and the vendor focused on the PlayBook launch. Overtaking Motorola, LG moved into sixth place, with its Optimus series of Android smartphones doing well in all regions. The US remained the largest country for smartphone shipments, with Apple substantially extending its lead, achieving a share of 31 percent and growth of over 150 percent year on year. Volumes were boosted by shipments of the iPhone 4 with Verizon Wireless. Android remained the leading smartphone platform in the US for the third consecutive quarter, with a 49 percent market share. Growing by well over 200 percent, HTC became the leading Android vendor in the US and the second-place smartphone vendor in the country overall. The popularity of 4G-branded models, such as the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, HTC EVO Shift 4G and the T-Mobile myTouch 4G, influenced US market shipments this past quarter. Q1 also marked the first full quarter of LTE smartphone shipments, following Verizon’s LTE network launch in December 2010. Shipments of these devices reached over 600,000 units.
