Apple Leads Smartphone Shipments In The Second Quarter Of 2011.

iPhone marketshare http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/Top Five Worldwide Smartphone Vendors, Shipment Volumes, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2Q11 (shipments in millions)

Looks like Apple has dethroned Nokia from Smartphone market in the second quarter of 2011. Apple shipped 20.3 Million units against Nokia's 16.7 Million units. But Nokia is still the king of world wide mobile handset shipments with 88.5 Million handsets.
Close behind Apple is the Samsung with 17.3 Million units shipped. Samsung also the king of growth with 380.6% growth year over year. All those Android units, like Gakaxy S family, have certainly helped. IDC credits Samsungs service and support to be the key to success; "... steady cadence of device releases and updates has kept Samsung's smartphones well out in front of the competition. Samsung's bada-powered smartphones likewise grew, while demand for its Windows Phone smartphones has cooled off."
Nokia did not fare well but with the Nokia N9 in the horizon, perhaps it will gain some ground but it could be too little and too late. Afer going through the introduction of the Nokia N9, yes I will have it over iPhone 4. But we got to wait and see how the rest of the world think of it. But the planned windows phone 7 on Nokia smartphones might not bid well for the maker.
RIM only had 12.4 Million units and coming at fifth place HTC secured 11.7 Million units. If HTC and Samsung only shipped Android based phones, combined percentage will give Android devices about a 10 Million lead over Apple, even if the Android shipments are at 50%, it will be 5 Million units lead.


IDC Press release;

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. August 4, 2011 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 65.4% year over year in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11), marking the third consecutive quarter where total shipments exceeded 100 million units. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 106.5 million units in 2Q11 compared to 64.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. The 65.4% growth was on par with IDC's forecast of 67.3% for the quarter and below the 84.0% year-over-year growth in 1Q11.

"The smartphone market crowned a new leader in 2Q11, and its name is Apple," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. "Ever since the first iPhone launched in 2007, Apple has made market-setting strides in hardware, software, and channel development to grab mindshare and market share. Demand has been so strong that even models that have been out for one or two years are still being sought out. With an expected refresh later this year, volumes are set to reach higher levels."

"The smartphone market leadership change signifies the parity that comes with a fast-growing market such as smartphones," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "There is no runaway leader in the market, which means there could easily be further Top 5 vendor changes to come."

Market Outlook

For 2011, IDC maintains that the worldwide smartphone market will grow 55.0% over 2010. "The first half of the year has demonstrated strong growth for the smartphone market," added Llamas. "The second half of the year will bring new flagship models and refreshed user experiences to market. These will keep smartphones well out in front of the market, and keep growth on an upward trajectory."

Top Five Smartphone Vendors

Apple's success can be directly attributed to its distribution (more than 200 carriers in more than 200 countries), increased manufacturing capacity, and solid demand within emerging and developed markets from both consumers and business users. Apple's emergence as the number one smartphone vendor worldwide comes at a time when former worldwide leader Nokia is in the midst of a major transition. However, Apple has yet to top Nokia's single-quarter volume record of 28.1 million units. But given Apple's momentum in the smartphone market, it may not be a question of whether Apple will beat that milestone, but when.

Samsung realized the largest year-over-year growth of any vendor among the top five, and key to its continued success was the global popularity of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones. What originally began as a series of high-end smartphones has proliferated well into the mass-market, but has not strayed too far from its high-end roots. Moreover, its steady cadence of device releases and updates has kept Samsung's smartphones well out in front of the competition. Samsung's bada-powered smartphones likewise grew, while demand for its Windows Phone smartphones has cooled off.

Nokia ceded the number one position for the first time in the history of IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker, with smartphone volumes dipping below the 20 million unit mark for the first time since 3Q09. Even as the company released new smartphones running on Symbian^3, demand for its products running on the aged Symbian platform has shifted to other devices. At the same time, Nokia must be considered as a company in transition, as it recently unveiled its first MeeGo-powered smartphone and Windows Phone-powered smartphones, designated as the primary operating system for Nokia moving forward, have yet to reach the market.

Research In Motion posted the lowest year-over-year growth of all the vendors in the top five, but still shipped enough BlackBerry smartphones to be the number four vendor worldwide. The company has released only a few new models so far this year, leaving the bulk of its shipments to be comprised of older, less expensive models. That has allowed its competitors to grab mindshare and market share with multiple new models. In addition, many vendors have targeted business users with enterprise-grade smartphones, which have long been RIM's stronghold. Still, demand for BlackBerry smartphones remained healthy in the face of competition.

HTC marked another upward quarter, having launched and announced several new smartphones to the market. These featured 3D displays and 4G speeds, attesting to HTC's ability to bring devices with the latest and forward-thinking technologies. For a company that got its start providing carrier-branded smartphones, HTC's success at building a strong and readily identifiable brand stems directly from a broad and deep selection of devices, a steady stream of device releases, and a warm reception among carriers and end-users. With a goal of shipping more than 13 million units in 3Q11, HTC is well poised to reach its goal of shipping 50 million units for the year.

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, August 4, 2011

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors

For more information about IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com.


Contact
For more information, contact:

Ramon Llamas
rllamas@idc.com
508-935-4736


Kevin Restivo
krestivo@idc.com
416-673-2230


Michael Shirer
press@idc.com
508-935-4200

IDC

Worldwide Smartphone Market Will Grow By 55% In 2011 And Android Will Lead Them All

Android will lead smartphone market http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to IDC, a Market researcher, Android market share is expected to surpass 40% of the by the end of the 2011 and that percentage could reach 44% by 2015.
With Android ruling the waves,  Nokia's Symbian platform will remain the number two for the year 2011, but it's market share will fall further to 20.6% from its highs it enjoyed previously. I think Nokia missed the boat by quite a length. Symbian could be come a distant memory if and when it's share drops to just 0.1% of the market by 2015.

So who in for the third place and the rest? IDC estimates Apple iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Phone to be in line, in that order. By the end of 2011, iOS will have 18.2% of the market, BlackBerry OS will have 14.2%, and Windows Phone will have 3.8%.

It is an interesting reading and here is the IDC press release;

Worldwide Smartphone Market Expected to Grow 55% in 2011 and Approach Shipments of One Billion in 2015, According to IDC

09 Jun 2011

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. June 9, 2011 – The worldwide smartphone market is forecast to grow 55% year over year in 2011 as a growing number of users turn in their feature phones for more advanced devices. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors will ship a total of 472 million smartphones in 2011 compared to roughly 305 million units shipped in 2010. That figure will nearly double to 982 million by the end of 2015.

The fast-growing smartphone market, which will grow more than four times the rate of the overall mobile phone market this year, is being fuelled by falling average selling prices, increased phone functionality, and lower-cost data plans among other factors, which make the devices more accessible to a wider range of users.

"The smartphone floodgates are open wide," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "Mobile phone users around the world are turning in their 'talk-and-text' devices for smartphones as these devices allow users to perform daily tasks like shopping and banking from anywhere. The growth trend is particularly pronounced in emerging markets where adoption is still in its early days. As a result, the growth in regions such as Asia/Pacific and Latin America, will be dramatic over the coming years."

Smartphone Operating Systems

"Underpinning smartphone growth is the rapidly shifting operating system landscape," added Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. "End-users are becoming more sophisticated about what kinds of experiences are offered by the different operating systems. Taking this as their cue, operating system developers will strive for more intuitive and seamless experiences, but will also look to differentiate themselves along key features and characteristics."

IDC expects Android, which passed Symbian as the leading operating system worldwide in Q4 2010, to grow to more than 40% of the market in the second half of 2011. A significant and growing list of vendors who have made Android the cornerstone of their respective smartphone strategies is propelling the growth of Android.

Symbian will steadily lose share throughout the forecast period as its biggest supporter Nokia transitions its smartphone strategy to Windows Phone. This will present a huge opportunity for competing operating systems to gain footing. Still, Nokia's commitment to support Symbian devices until 2016 will keep the installed base of Symbian-powered smartphone users on par with its competitors.

Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile will benefit from Nokia's support, scope, and breadth within markets where Nokia has historically had a strong presence. Until Nokia begins introducing Windows Phone-powered smartphones in large volumes in 2012, Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile will only capture a small share of the market as the release of Mango-powered smartphones are not expected to reach the market until late 2011. Nevertheless, assuming that Nokia's transition to Windows Phone goes smoothly, the OS is expected to defend a number 2 rank and more than 20% share in 2015.

iOS was the third ranked OS going into 2011 and will remain a force in the mobile phone market throughout the forecast. After an initial explosive growth period, iOS is expected to grow at a more modest pace throughout the latter half of the forecast as the smartphone market matures and diversifies. Although a small market share decline is expected, IDC expects significant overall shipment volume growth through the end of 2015.

BlackBerry OS is expected to maintain its position as a Top 4 smartphone operating system over the forecast period. Like iOS, the BlackBerry OS will experience market share decline even as shipment volumes grow throughout our forecast.