BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew an impressive 75 percent annually to reach a record 94 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010. Apple maintained its small lead over RIM, while Nokia continued to underperform.
Tom Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments grew a healthy 75 percent annually to reach a record 94 million units in Q4 2010. Apple was once again the fastest growing brand among the big 3 smartphone players, as it almost doubled volumes on an annual basis, maintained a small quarterly lead over RIM, and captured 17 percent global marketshare.”
Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Global smartphone shipments reached 293 million units during full-year 2010, almost doubling from 151 million in 2008 and 175 million in 2009, highlighting the rapid growth of this high-value segment. The big 3 hardware vendors of Nokia, RIM and Apple were less dominant in 2010, as their combined global marketshare slipped from 73 percent in 2009 to 67 percent in 2010, mostly due to a spike in Android vendors such as Samsung, Motorola, HTC and Sony Ericsson. Indeed, Android was the star platform of 2010, as it gave iOS4 some much-needed competition and outgrew all major rival operating systems worldwide.”
Other findings from the research include:
- Nokia became the first ever vendor to ship 100 million smartphones in a single year. However, this impressive achievement could not hide the downturn in its quarterly marketshare, which has slipped from 39% worldwide in Q4 2009 to just 30% in Q4 2010 due to increased competition from Apple and several Android vendors;
- RIM continues to be hampered by a limited presence in the high-growth touchscreen category and consequently its global smartphone marketshare has edged down from 20 percent to 16 percent during the past 12 months.
Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2010
| Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units) | Q4 '09 | 2009 | Q4 '10 | 2010 | ||||||||
| Nokia | 20.8 | 67.8 | 28.3 | 100.1 | ||||||||
| RIM | 10.7 | 34.5 | 14.6 | 48.8 | ||||||||
| Apple | 8.7 | 25.1 | 16.2 | 47.5 | ||||||||
| Others | 13.7 | 47.3 | 35.0 | 96.5 | ||||||||
| Total | 53.9 | 174.7 | 94.1 | 292.9 | ||||||||
| Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare % | Q4 '09 | 2009 | Q4 '10 | 2010 | ||||||||
| Nokia | 38.6% | 38.8% | 30.1% | 34.2% | ||||||||
| RIM | 19.9% | 19.7% | 15.5% | 16.7% | ||||||||
| Apple | 16.1% | 14.4% | 17.2% | 16.2% | ||||||||
| Others | 25.4% | 27.1% | 37.2% | 32.9% | ||||||||
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | ||||||||
| Growth Year-over-Year % | Q4 '09 | 2009 | Q4 '10 | 2010 | ||||||||
| Nokia | 37.7% | 12.1% | 36.1% | 47.6% | ||||||||
| RIM | 40.8% | 46.8% | 36.4% | 41.4% | ||||||||
| Apple | 97.7% | 83.1% | 86.2% | 89.3% | ||||||||
| Others | -0.2% | -11.5% | 155.5% | 103.9% | ||||||||
| Total | 32.0% | 15.6% | 74.6% | 67.6% |
The full report, Global Smartphone Shipments Reach Record 94 Million Units in Q4 2010, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2cpmn32.
About Strategy Analytics:
Strategy Analytics is a global, independent research and consulting firm. The company is headquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and China. Visit www.strategyanalytics.com for more information.