Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose to the top spot in second-quarter marketshare in the smartphone space, capitalizing on a 31% plunge from longtime market leader Nokia Corp. (NOK), according to new analysis from IHS Inc.
Even though the smartphone space grew 7.5% quarter to quarter, Nokia’s marketshare continued to fall, down to 16.7 million units. It now accounts for 15.1% of smartphone sales, but is overshadowed by Apple, which holds 18.4% marketshare, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., in the second spot with 17.8% marketshare. Interestingly, IHS marks Samsung’s year to year growth at 600%. Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) with 12% marketshare, and HTC Corp., (HTCXF) with 10.8% marketshare, round out the top five smartphone manufacturers.
“Nokia’s woes in the smartphone market are the result of a double whammy of rising competitive pressures on the outside—and struggles with its corporate strategy on the inside,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications, for IHS. “The Symbian software platform used by Nokia simply isn’t competitive against Apple’s iOS or the Android operating system used in phones from Samsung and HTC. Meanwhile, the company is facing major challenges throughout its entire mobile handset business—even outside the smartphone segment—which caused its sales to decline in most regions of the world in the second quarter.”
Samsung’s rise in the quarter came at the expense of RIM, whose shipments dropped 10.8% from quarter to quarter. “Like Nokia, RIM is losing share to the Android platform as it struggles to develop a complete ecosystem for its operating system and develop a device capturing consumer trends. Most of RIM’s market share loses are taking place in Europe and North America,” IHS said. “Meanwhile, Samsung’s shipments have surged because of its broad focus on all parts of the smartphone business with its shotgun approach to address all segments and leverage the Android platform. In addition to premium smartphones, Samsung has been offering low-end models that appeal to consumers in China and Latin America, driving up the company’s shipments.”
IHS expects smartphone shipments to reach 478 million units by the end of 2011, up 62.4% from 2010.
