Samsung nabs 25% of touch phones, iPhone 33%
updated 03:35 pm EDT, Thu March 12, 2009
Samsung 25pc of Touch
Samsung today claimed to have represented exactly one quarter of all touchscreen phones shipped in 2008. The Korean company estimates that it produced about 10 million models of various kinds and that its most popular has ultimately been the F480, which has alternately been known as the Tocco in some countries and was released as the Behold for T-Mobile; it accounted for 5 million of those phones, or half of Samsung's line. The rest included devices like the Instinct, Omnia and Pixon.
The data puts Samsung well ahead of newcomers like the BlackBerry Storm's creator, Research in Motion, but suggests the company has already been eclipsed by Apple. Both original and 3G iPhones combined to reach about 13.3 million in shipments in 2008 and would thus have given Apple about one third, or 33.3 percent, of the entire market for touchscreen phones.
Such data also hints that even well-recognized competitors have significantly smaller share, as the remaining 41.7 percent would have to be divided between Samsung's most immediate challenger, LG, as well as smaller but touchscreen-heavy phone producers like HTC and Palm. Nokia and RIM had only launched single touchscreen models in the last month of 2008.
Other competitors like Motorola and Sony Ericsson have few touchscreen phones and are expected to only truly grow with new models introduced later this year, like the Idou. [via Mobinaute]
