The worldwide smartphone market in the third quarter grew a 95 percent over the same quarter a year ago to 80.9 million shipped units, according to a study by Canalys. Nokia retained its leadership position, albeit by a diminished margin, with a 33 percent share of the market. Apple’s healthy performance this quarter saw it achieve a 17 percent share worldwide, a little ahead of RIM, which held a 15 percent share this quarter. In the US, Apple ousted RIM from the top spot, seizing a 26 percent share as iPhone shipments continued unabated. RIM has also launched its latest generation smart phone, the Torch, though it only saw half a quarter’s shipments in the US. But the plethora of smartphones running the Open Handset Alliance’s Android platform meant that Canalys’ country-level data shows that it took the lead in the US market by OS, with a 44 percent share. Again in this quarter, it was devices running the Android platform that proved the greatest driver of growth in the worldwide market, up 1,309 percent year-on-year from 1.4 million in Q3 2009 to more than 20.0 million units in Q3, forming a quarter of the market share.
Vendors are now delivering Android devices across a broad range of price points, from high-end products such as the Samsung Galaxy S or HTC Desire, to aggressively priced devices such as the LG GT540 Optimus or the Huawei built Vodafone 845, ensuring that Android devices are available and affordable to consumers on almost any budget. However, driven by Nokia, the Symbian Foundation retained its position as the leading smartphone OS vendor worldwide. Of the 56 named countries that Canalys tracks, it is still the number one OS vendor in 37 of them because of Nokia’s dominance, plus in Japan, where its position is supported by Fujitsu and Sharp. The launch of Nokia’s new range of Symbian devices, particularly the N8, will give a boost to its holiday season shipments, and the outlook into 2011 remains positive as Nokia aims to push Symbian devices further into the mid-tier of the market to attract mass-market volumes. Devices running Microsoft’s OS accounted for just 3 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments in Q3, though with the launch of Windows Phone 7 devices, the outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond is significantly improved. The big challenge will be for handset vendors to differentiate their devices sufficiently given the restrictions Microsoft has placed on customising the user interface, and its relatively demanding minimum hardware requirements, which will confine devices to the higher end of the market. The market is also awaiting the platform’s availability in non-roman languages to support its expansion into important emerging markets.
In the BRIIC countries, smartphone shipments increased by 112 percent year-on-year, faster than the market overall, and each country individually saw strong growth. Nokia was the leading vendor in all five BRIIC markets in Q3, benefiting from its global reach and channel relationships. In India, for example, Nokia held a 65 percent share of the smartphone market, and grew its shipments 208 percent year-on-year to 1.1 million units. The combination of smartphones and its Ovi suite, which offers e-mail and messaging, navigation and music services, continues to prove popular in India, with products such as the 523x series of smartphones performing well. Despite ongoing discussions with the Indian authorities over the monitoring of encrypted communications, RIM has also continued to grow its business in the country and held an 18 percent share of the market in Q3, with volumes up 412 percent. For RIM, aggressively priced BlackBerry smartphones, such as the Curve 8520, have helped drive volumes across emerging markets, aided by its engagement in substantial marketing activities. It remains the number one smart phone vendor in Latin America, where it holds nearly 40 percent of the market.
