PHOTOGUIDE: The top-selling phones in the U.S. in the third quarter
iPhone displaced Razr as top U.S. handset
November 10 2008 - 12:57 pm ET | Phil Carson | RCR Wireless News
Apple Inc.’s 3G iPhone was the top-selling handset in the United States in the third quarter, according to new data from NPD Group.
The long reign of Motorola Inc.’s Razr handset — three straight years, or 12 consecutive quarters — is over. The Razr, in all its myriad models, slipped to the No. 2 position.
Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry Curve garnered the No. 3 spot, followed by LG Electronic Co. Ltd.’s Rumor and Env2.
Last week, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. took a narrow lead in U.S. market share over Motorola, which has commanded the top spot for several years, according to data from Strategy Analytics.
NPD analyst Ross Rubin called the ascension of the iPhone over the Razr “a watershed shift.”
“Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized for messaging and other advanced Internet features,” Rubin said.
The analyst said he discerned a growing divide in the handset market between voice-centric phones and those optimized for data and Internet usage. Fully 30% sought a device with a QWERTY keypad, up from 11% in the prior year.
NPD found, to varying degrees, that Bluetooth connectivity and digital music are rapidly becoming expected features on a phone. Bluetooth-enable handsets were 83% of those sold in the third quarter, up from 72% in the year-ago quarter. Music-enabled phones represented nearly 70% of units sold, up from about 50% in the year-ago quarter. Forty-three percent of consumers seek a phone with a camera.
In the smartphone category, however, RIM continued to be the top U.S. market share holder — with 40% — in October, according to analyst Ittai Kidron at Oppenheimer. Carrier subsidies appeared to be helping: the analyst found that more than half of the BlackBerrys on the market were subsidized to $100 or less.
“While carrier support remains solid, we are cutting our smartphone forecast once again to reflect the poor economy,” Kidron wrote.
Nokia Corp. continued to dominate the smartphone market in Europe, with RIM and HTC Corp. battling for the No. 2 position, according to Kidron.
U.S. carriers combined now offer 50 models of smartphones, while in Europe that number is nearly 250 models.
November 12, 2008 06:02 am
To: Smartphone.Thanks for the insight and clarity.
November 11, 2008 04:51 pm
Dazed and Confused...Wikipedia actually has a pretty good definition of smart phone. It states that the definition is not standard which is why you're having trouble knowing it and others are having trouble defining it. Vesa hit it pretty well by classifying it as an open OS phone. I would go one step further and include business apps like advanced calendar options, e-mail, and business suite apps (i.e. PowerPoint, Excel, etc.). Where as a converged phone is the term used where a device is doing the job of many devices just a short time ago (i.e. cell phone, music player, camera, etc.). Most cell phones could be considered converged with that definition. Going forward that will probably start to reflect PC capabilities which looks very much like a smart phone today. Take a look at Nokia's N95 or N96. It can do push email, music, 5MP camera, video, GPS, etc AND the user can actually talk well with it. So very advanced features and capabilities. Hope that helps.
November 11, 2008 12:58 pm
To those who defined smartphone…thank you. So is a mid priced Centro ($99) a smartphone or feature phone? What about an LG EnV with downloadable third party BREW apps…smartphone or feature phone? Or an LG Rumor? How do industry analysts track and forecast smartphones when there are wide range of definitions in the industry?
November 10, 2008 01:09 pm
I have the Blackberry Curve & to me it's so much better than the I-phone. I had the I-phone & the reception was awful. If I had wanted just something for fun; I would have bought an I-pod. But I needed a cell phone with good reception also. And the Blackberry Curve has both. This is my 1st Blackberry & it won't be my last. As for the Razr. The V-9 is an awesome phone. The Razr has always been a very good sale for Motorola. I just think alot of people are getting tired of the Razr line. Mainly because they always seem to have the same look.
November 10, 2008 01:11 pm
The definition of a smartphone: it has an open OS (Symbian, Mac, BlackBerry, Windows, Android) so you can install 3rd party apps. Feature phone is one step below a smartphone - has multimedia functions but no open OS. Converged device: either smartphone or feature phone. Hope this helps.
November 10, 2008 01:11 pm
@Dazed and Confused:Apparently you're not too familiar with the handset biz. "Feature phone" is actually code for a cheaper mid-tier phone. It's a step above a voice-only or low-tier phone, but a step below a smartphone or high-tier phone.
November 10, 2008 01:11 pm
A Smartphone usually includes more full featured apps like calendar and contact manager that can be sync'd with an exchange server or Novell, or Outlook as a stand alone. Also a full blown HTML browser is usually the case at least in the phones I sell.
November 10, 2008 01:11 pm
Could someone please define a smartphone? what's the difference between a "smartphone" and a "converged device" and a "mobile Internet phone" and a "multi-media device." what about the difference between a smartphone and a "feature phone"? Is not the LG Rumour a "feature phone?" Help!