ABI: iPhone could kick Nokia to third place by end of 2011
updated 01:50 pm EDT, Fri April 29, 2011
ABI expects iPhone past Symbian in 2011
Nokia's fall and Apple's rise could be quick enough that the iPhone pushes Nokia to third place in smartphones by the end of the year, ABI Research predicted Friday. Having already slipped behind Android, Nokia's plunge from 40 percent of the smartphone space a year ago to 25 percent in in early 2011 was seen as a sign Nokia would continue to drop just as Apple was climbing. iPhone shipments were up by 15 percent, helped in part by the Verizon iPhone, and at the current rate was growing just as quickly as Nokia was shrinking.
Even with promises of Windows Phone, the decline with the existing Symbian lineup was only likely to accelerate over the next several months, ABI said.
Android was the largest platform overall with a combined 30 million across HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and others, keeping Symbian down to 25.6 million. Apple's 18.65 million iPhones still meant it had gained share and bumped it up to nearly 19 percent. Android growth was mixed; Samsung grew by 16 percent, but Motorola's decline by an equal percentage offset some of those gains.
Collectively, Nokia was expected to drag down growth overall and wouldn't let growth reach 2010 speeds until the summer onwards.
