Smartphone Sales Slow Down, RIM Looks Strong
While Gartner recently indicated that 32.2 million smartphones were sold in the second quarter of 2008, a 15.7% increase compared to the second quarter of 2007, it showed a slower pace than what the 60% growth rate observed earlier in the year. For the first half of 2008, 64 million smartphones were sold to end users globally.
The sluggish economic landscape “continues to negatively impact the market, limiting consumer spending and replacement purchases in general,” according to Gartner. The report also points to the growing number of enhanced cell phones with touch technology as a source of waning strength for the smartphone market.
North America saw fast growth on a year-over-year basis, seeing sales of smartphones increase 78.7%. The market also accounted for nearly 25% of all smartphone sales to end users. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa experienced 21% growth.
Asia/Pacific actually saw a decline of 4.8%, while Japan saw a drop off of 24%.
Nokia still maintains a healthy lead in the market, with a 47.5% share in the second quarter. It sold almost 15.3 million smartphones globally in the second quarter, but its growth from the second quarter of last year was a measly 8.1%. Its market share last year was 50.8%.
Research in Motion was second with a 17.4% market share. The BlackBerry maker sold nearly 5.6 million units during the second quarter, compared to 2.5 million during the same quarter last year. Its year-over-year growth is 126.4%, as RIM continues to close the gap between itself and Nokia.
HTC (4.1% market share, 119.6% growth), Sharp (4.1% market share, -41.6% growth), and Fujitsu (3.3% market share, 22.0% growth) were also major players in the smartphone market in the second quarter of 2008. All others accounted for 23.6% of the market.
Apple will likely emerge with strong numbers for the third quarter rankings, as its sales flagged before the announcement of its 3G version of the iPhone.
In terms of smartphone operating systems, Symbian led the way with a 57.1% share of the overall market, followed by RIM with 17.4%. Microsoft Windows Mobile grew its market share 20.6% from last year’s 11.5% to this year’s 12.0%. Linux (7.3%), Mac OS X (2.8%), and Palm OS (2.3%) were also big players in the OS field. All others accounted for just 1.1% of the market.
RIM will continue its strong showing as it gets ready to unveil its Blackberry Bold later this Fall, along with its touchscreen BlackBerry Storm on the Verizon network stateside, and others elsewhere.
Sources:
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=754112
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10035699-94.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1419
