Worldwide smartphone sales totalled 32.2 million
units in the second quarter of 2008, a 15.7 per cent increase from the
second quarter of 2007, according to Gartner, Inc. In addition, of all
mobile device sales, smartphones' share remained stable at 11 per cent.
For the smartphone operating system market, Symbian
commanded 57 per cent of the global sales to end users in the second
quarter of 2008 compared with 66 per cent in the same period last year
(see Table 2). Symbian's performance was affected by a 26 per cent drop
in unit sales in Japan and Symbian's licensee Mitsubishi exiting the
market. Overall, Symbian's share declined as a result of a more
competitive and fragmented mobile operating system market.
Research In Motion (RIM) recorded another strong quarter. The
vendor's smartphone sales were up 126 per cent year over year, and the
company's market share nearly doubled compared with the second quarter
of 2007. RIM continued to execute well at the consumer level, increasing its global market reach.
In the second half of the year, the company is expected to launch
smartphones based on new form factors, which are necessary to keep pace
with the competition at the consumer level.
HTC gained the No. 3 position during the second quarter of 2008,
moving up from the No. 7 ranking in the first quarter. HTC's sales more
than doubled year over year, but its overall share was flat at 4 per
cent compared with the first quarter of 2008. HTC continued to perform
well during the second quarter primarily thanks to sales of its Touch
product line.
In the second quarter of 2008, Apple's share of
global smartphone sales to end users decreased to 2.8 per cent from 5.3
per cent in the first quarter of 2008. The significant drop in sales
was mainly due to the company having to clean the channel of
first-generation iPhone units before the arrival of the iPhone 3G in
June. Apple's sales figure in the second quarter of 2008 accounted for
sales of inventory carried over from the first quarter of 2008. Gartner
analysts expect iPhone sales to grow significantly in the second half
of 2008, enabling the company to regain a top position in the global
smartphone vendor rankings.
"Although global smartphone sales to end users
[in the first half of 2008] reached 64 million units, up 22 per cent
compared with the first half of 2007, sales increased at a lower rate
than in 2007," said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner. "The
current economic environment continues to negatively impact the market,
limiting consumer spending and replacement purchases in general. In
addition, smartphone sales slowed down as a result of new compelling
touch technology mainly available on enhanced phones (based on
proprietary operating systems) rather than smartphones."
"Wider availability of new touch smartphone
models together with the global introduction of the iPhone 3G will help
sales of smartphones return to stronger growth in the third quarter of
2008," Ms Cozza said.
On a regional level, the North American market
remained among the fastest-growing markets in the second quarter of
2008 with an increase of 78.7 per cent year over year. The region also
accounted for almost 25 per cent of the global smartphone sales to end
users. Europe, the Middle East and Africa exhibited 21 per cent growth
year over year; Western Europe drove much of the growth in the region
with a 29.3 per cent increase. Finally, the markets of Asia/Pacific and
Japan declined 4.8 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.
Although Nokia held the No. 1 position with a 47.5 per cent market
share in the second quarter of 2008, its year-over-year growth was
about half of the market average (see Table 1). Nokia faced increased
competition in the consumer smartphone market, which had an impact on
its year-on-year performance.
Table 1
Worldwide: Preliminary Smartphone Sales to End Users byVendor, 2Q08 (Units)
|
Company |
2Q08 Sales |
2Q08 Market Share (%) |
2Q07 Sales |
2Q07 Market Share (%) |
2Q08- 2Q07 Growth (%) |
|
Nokia |
15,297,900 |
47.5 |
14,151,689 |
50.8 |
8.1 |
|
Research In Motion |
5,594,159 |
17.4 |
2,471,200 |
8.9 |
126.4 |
|
HTC |
1,330,825 |
4.1 |
605,900 |
2.2 |
119.6 |
|
Sharp |
1,328,090 |
4.1 |
2,275,401 |
8.2 |
-41.6 |
|
Fujitsu |
1,071,490 |
3.3 |
877,955 |
3.2 |
22.0 |
|
Others |
7,598,711 |
23.6 |
7,472,441 |
26.8 |
1.7 |
|
Total |
32,221,175 |
100.0 |
27,854,586 |
100.0 |
15.7 |
Note: Under the name HTC, Gartner counts only the company's
own-branded devices. The devices that HTC designs for mobile operators
are shown separately under the operators' names in these statistics.
Source: Gartner (August 2008)
"To stay competitive, Nokia will need to introduce more design
variations amongst its Nseries models and keep innovating. The expected
introduction of a touch-screen smartphone in the second half of 2008
will test the company's capability to show differentiation and
innovation," Ms Cozza added.
Table 2
Worldwide: Preliminary Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System, 2Q08 (Units)
|
Company |
2Q08 Sales |
2Q08 Market Share (%) |
2Q07 Sales |
2Q07 Market Share (%) |
2Q08- 2Q07 Growth (%) |
|
Symbian |
18,405,057 |
57.1 |
18,273,255 |
65.6 |
0.7 |
|
Research In Motion |
5,594,159 |
17.4 |
2,471,200 |
8.9 |
126.4 |
|
Microsoft Windows Mobile |
3,873,622 |
12.0 |
3,212,222 |
11.5 |
20.6 |
|
Linux |
2,359,245 |
7.3 |
2,816,490 |
10.1 |
-16.2 |
|
Mac OS X |
892,503 |
2.8 |
270,000 |
1.0 |
230.6 |
|
Palm OS |
743,910 |
2.3 |
461,918 |
1.7 |
61.0 |
|
Others |
352,679 |
1.1 |
349,501 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
|
Total |
32,221,175 |
100.0 |
27,854,586 |
100.0 |
15.7 |
Note: The "Others" category includes sales of Sharp Sidekick devices based on the Danger platform.
Source: Gartner (August 2008)
Sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices
increased 20.6 per cent year over year, with Microsoft's share
remaining flat at 12 per cent in the second quarter of 2008.
Microsoft's strongest region in unit terms was North America, followed
by Western Europe. Both regions combined accounted for 74 per cent of
global Windows Mobile sales.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Market Share: Smartphones, Worldwide, 2Q08."