Smartphones: Samsung and HTC grow faster than Apple

Apple inches closer

Despite making announcements to move from Symbian to Windows Phone, Nokia has maintained leadership in the smartphone market, according to IDC. But Apple inched closer to Nokia with just 6 million units between the two companies.   

The report noted that though Nokia's sales are growing since smartphones are taking off, with total year-on-year growth of nearly 80 percent, they went from 38.8 percent of the worldwide market down last year to 24.3 percent this year. However, the Symbian smartphone maker retains the number one position worldwide, 5.5 million shipments ahead of Apple for the quarter.

The worldwide smartphone market almost doubled during the past 12 months; growing to 99.6 million units in the first quarter, up from 55.4 million units in the year-ago quarter. Nokia, Apple and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion were the top three vendors.

"Conditions in the smartphone market are creating a perfect storm for sustained smartphone growth," said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas. "First, vendors are increasingly emphasizing smartphones as the key to their own growth. Second, selection has proliferated from mostly high-end devices to include more mid-range and entry-level offerings.

"Third, pricing has become increasingly competitive, with even high-end devices available at low price points. Finally, users continue to seek greater utility from their mobile phone beyond voice, and smartphones have been the ideal solution. Altogether, these add up to continued smartphone growth throughout the year."

RIM remained in the third place with 14 percent market share, but this was a significant fall on a year ago. Samsung's shipments grew 350 percent from the first quarter of last year to now, the largest year-over-year gain. HTC posted a record shipment volume, nearly surpassing the ten million unit mark for the first time.

Top Five Smartphone Vendors, Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, First Quarter 2011 (Preliminary Results) (shipments in millions of units)

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, May 5, 2011

The strong demand for smartphones also means the market will remain highly competitive and fragmented. "The rise of Android as a prominent mobile operating system has allowed several suppliers to gain share quickly," added Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst. "Also, the relatively nascent state of smartphone adoption globally means there is ample room for several suppliers to comfortably co-exist, at least for the short term."