Nokia, RIM, Panasonic - In That Order

Written by Adam Gosling

Thursday, 01 March 2007

Page 1 of 3 That's IDC's answer to the question, "Who led the smartphone market last year." According to the industry number cruncher, converged mobile smartphones pushed past the 20 million unit mark in the fourth quarter of 2006 and past the 80 million unit mark for the year. The numbers, in IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker suggest more than 23.5 million devices were shipped in the final quarter of 2006 a growth of 33.5% over the equivalent prior quarter. For the year, shipments were up 42.0% over 2005 to reach 80.5 million devices. Why? The price came down and pushed the adoption rates into the consumer segment. The big winner for the year was Motorola, which, although it came in third place grew 104% in 2006 as it made it first real entry into the smartphone market with the Moto Q. "The robust growth in converged device shipments in 2006 was driven by substantially decreased price points and a greater selection of devices for consumers to chose from," said Ryan Reith, research analyst for IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "Competitive pressures have driven price points below $200, making converged mobile devices more affordable to a broader base of users. More than ever before, vendors are focused on providing greater capabilities that differentiate their products while keeping costs in check." More on functionality later, but first IDCs rundown on the top five equipment providers. Nokia, the "undisputed leader" with a 48.1% marketshare for the year achieved its numbers thanks to a broad range of very popular devices. The business focused E-series and the "multimedia-heavy " N-series has allowed Nokia to target a huge range of users worldwide. However, IDC points out that Nokia has admitted its presence among enterprise users, and among users in the Americas in general, had not lived up to its expectations. So you can expect to see more focus on the American market as has already happened with the E-series and N75 devices announced at 3GSM in Spain which are "targeted specifically" for the American market says the researcher. Everybody else is an also ran in a set of numbers made remarkable by how far behind Nokia the other leading brands are. Research In Motion might have come in second for global shipments in 2006, but it did so with a market share of just 7.5%. << Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>