Worldwide mobile communication device sales to end users totalled 427.8 million units in the first quarter, an increase of 19 percent from the first quarter of 2010, according to a study by Gartner. Smartphones continued to outpace the rest of the market. Smartphones accounted for 23.6 percent of overall sales in the first quarter, an increase of 85 percent year-on-year. Nokia sold 107.6 million mobile devices in the first quarter. Its market share declined 5.5 percentage points year-on-year, and its share has reached its lowest since 1997. Samsung experienced strong first quarter with 68.7 million units sold and market share of 16.1 percent. Apple sold 16.9 million units to end users worldwide, more than doubling its sales of iPhones year-on-year. HTC recorded a strong first quarter with 9.3 million mobile communication devices sold and moved to the number seven position. Strong high-end products enabled HTC perform well with all major US CSPs, and in the first quarter it became the number two smartphone manufacturer in the region, overtaking Research In Motion. Although in mature markets the shift from feature phones to smartphones is accelerating, smartphones overall moved down-market in the first quarter. Several manufacturers, including HTC, Sony Ericsson, Alcatel and ZTE, announced a broader portfolio of mid-tier devices, mainly based on Android, which will reach the market in the second quarter. Android and Apple's iOS continued to dominate the smartphone OS wars. Windows Phone saw only modest sales that reached 1.6 million units in the first quarter, as devices launched at the end of 2010 failed to grow in consumer preference and CSPs continued to focus on Android. In the long term, Nokia's support will accelerate Windows Phone's momentum.
