APPLE TAKES TOP SPOT ON GLOBAL SMARTPHONE SALES

The latest results in the ongoing battle of global
smartphone manufacturers are in, with reports from market research firms Strategy Analytics and IDC showing some interesting developments in the second quarter of this year. The market as a whole has grown 76.3% since Q2 last year, with Apple and Samsung definitely looking to have enjoyed most of the benefits.
Q2 2011 saw Apple more than double its smartphone sales since the corresponding quarter last year, going from 8.4 million units to 20.3 million. Samsung did spectacularly well in the same period, with sales growing more than six times from 3.1 million units to
19.2 million. Nokia’s smartphone sales on the other hand fell by a third in the second quarter, shipping 16.7 units compared to 23.8 million the previous year.
The smartphone market shares have certainly been reshuffled, and now have three nearly equal behemoths on top – with Apple holding 18.5% for the first spot, Samsung is second with 17.5%, and Nokia third with 15.2%. Other manufacturers make up
48.9% of the sales, up from 43.4% in Q2 2010.
The Q2 reports also held some interesting statistics for feature phones – the overall market reduced for the first time in two years, with all manufacturers seeing
declines in sales. Nokia, the biggest feature phone manufacturer – shipped 71.8 million units, down from 87.3 million the previous year. Could it be the effect of those low-cost Android ‘smartphones’?
Overall, and not just because Apple doesn’t make feature phones, Nokia still retains the top position with 88.5 million feature and smartphones sold this quarter,
though that number has dropped sharply from 111.1 million units the previous year. Samsung retains the number two position, with 70.2 million units sold overall. As they stand for now, market shares show Nokia holding 24.5%, Samsung at 20.5%, LG third at 6.9%, and Apple an impressive fourth, at 5.6% of the
market.