Apple ousts Nokia as top Australian smartphone vendor
updated 01:15 pm EST, Tue December 7, 2010
Android rising as new threat
Apple has displaced Nokia as the top smartphone vendor in Australia, says the Sydney Morning Herald. New IDC figures indicate that the iPhone represents roughly 36.5 percent of the local market. Nokia has slipped to second place with 30.5 percent of smartphones, though the company still leads in overall cellphone sales with 37.6 percent.
Apple may soon have to worry about the threat of Google's Android, however. The platform already represents 21 percent of Australian smartphone sales, having formerly held just 7.1 percent of the market in Q2 2010, and 2.1 percent in Q1. "Given the way that it is growing, this time next year Android could be number one," says IDC analyst Mark Novosel. "It really depends how next year will pan out."
Novosel remarks that Android sales are most likely being helped by higher-end phones like the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S. If Apple is knocked off of its perch, it will have had a comparatively short reign. Novosel observes that Nokia originally rose to dominance in 2002, wresting control from Palm.
