IDC reaffirms Apple as top smartphone maker in the world
updated 06:50 pm EDT, Thu August 4, 2011
IDC puts Apple over Samsung in spring 2011 share
New research from IDC has backed up earlier assertions that Apple is the top smartphone maker worldwide. The iPhone creator in its data claimed 19.1 percent of teh smartphone market, or enough to keep out of Galaxy S II maker Samsung's 16.2 percent. Nokia's drop wasn't as steep as in Strategy Analytics' research, but it still saw the one-time leader lose more than half its share and sink to third place, with 15.7 percent.
RIM was also factored into this view. After adjusting for RIM's non-standard approach to quarterly reports, IDC found that just 12.4 million BlackBerrys had shipped and saw RIM plunge from 17.4 percent last spring to 11.6 percent now. HTC headed in the opposite direction and grew from just 6.8 percent to exactly 11 percent in the space of a year.
Apple's edge was credited to sheer distribution, with over 200 countries and 200-plus carriers selling iPhones on some level. It was also still catching up to demand with its factories at a time when Nokia and RIM were scaling back.
Samsung's sales also had a unique insight into Windows Phone's unpopularity: IDC's tracking had suggested that phones like the Focus and Omnia 7 had "cooled off" where Android and even Bada were considerably hotter.
TAGS :
iPhone, industry, Google, htc, Symbian, Nokia, Android, BlackBerry, Samsung, RIM, IDC, mobile phones, Apple, Windows Phone, bada
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Joined: Sep 1999
Missing the point
Unit sales? So what? Look at total revenues and we'll talk. Apple could easily place 3rd in unit sales but still claim more revenues than any other manufacturer.