Apple is the No 2 Smart Phone
By Azam on November 10, 2008
Apple is the number 2 smart phone vendor after Nokia according to the latest Canalys Q3 2008 report. Nokia market share continue to lead world wide dominance with a 38.9% market share compared to Apple in No 2 position of 17.3% in the 3Q of 2008. The recent launch of Apple 3G iPhone and international rollout of the product help gained market share or rivals. Apple has overtaken RIM popular blackberry smart phone line with a 15.2% market share. The global smartphone market increased 28% to reach 40 M units in Q3 of 2008 with growth in US and EMEA and decline in the Asia Pacific region largely attributed the Japan market.
Apple Pretty Impressive
The introduction of the iPhone 3G in July and Apple’s expansion into many more countries helped propel the vendor to second place globally, taking it above RIM in the quarter and resulting in higher shipments than for all the Microsoft-based smart phones combined.
“It was expected that Apple would figure among the smart phone leaders this quarter, with that huge initial new product shipment, it was just a question of how high up it would be – and this is impressive,” commented Pete Cunningham, Canalys senior analyst. Despite RIM being nudged into third place, its growth of over 80% shouldn’t be overlooked either. “This is also a tremendous performance, especially considering the delays it experienced in rolling out the Blackberry Bold,” Cunningham added. “Some customers will also have been waiting for the Storm to arrive. With these new products and the clamshell Pearl 8220 available in Q4, it is quite feasible that RIM will return to the number two position.”
Despite Apples impressive numbers, the future outlook for the industry is still in transition. Nokia dominate the market and has the largest share to lose as new models and applications are being developed. Nokia is transitioning to newer models such as N96 and launch of services (GPS Maps &OVI) based on Symbian operating system. RIM is launching the new flip version of the pearl and launching the storm a more direct competitor to the iPhone. The recent launch of the Android phone by T mobile and hardware vendor HTC will likely gain traction. Motorola recently announced efforts on the Android model to be released. The smart phone market is getting more competitive and more innovative with better emphasis on UI and applications connected with the web. The outlook for the smart phone market is promising even as overall market declines as more mass appeal for phones will more features are still in demand.
Tags : , Android, apple, HTC, iPhone, nokia, RIM, Smart phone