Mobiler | South Africa mobile phone news, galleries, reviews, apps: Apple beats BlackBerry

Apple beats BlackBerry
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admin on 13/11/2009 06:16:00
 
Smartphone sales surpassed 41 million units, a 12.8 per cent increase from the
same period last year, and Apple overtook RIM in Western Europe for the first
time since the launch of the iPhone.
"Smartphones continued to represent the fastest-growing segment of the
mobile-devices market and we remain confident about the potential for
smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2009 and in 2010," said Carolina Milanesi,
research director at Gartner.
Nokia’s share of the worldwide smartphone market reached an all time low in
the third quarter of 2009 at 39 per cent, compared with 45 per cent in the
second quarter of 2009 (see Table). This decline caused Symbian to lose ground
too, while Research In Motion reached 20 per cent share, its highest yet.
RIM’s sales volumes rested on the Curve 8900 in Europe and the Tour and Storm
2 with Verizon Wireless in the US. RIM also focused on pre-paid sales and more
flexible BlackBerry Internet Service offerings, which helped to drive volumes in
emerging markets like Latin America.
Apple’s worldwide smartphone share reached 17 per cent as iPhone sales
totalled 7 million units in the third quarter of 2009 following the continued
rollout of the iPhone 3GS in new countries. Its ASP is holding steady and sales
in the fourth quarter should be even stronger as Apple starts selling in China,
through one additional carrier in the UK, and in an additional 16 countries.
In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Android picked up momentum but
with only a handful of Android devices available, its share remained modest at
3.5 per cent. Windows Mobile 6.5 only became available in October, too late to
have an impact on the third quarter, so sales of Windows-based smartphones saw
another decline.
"Manufacturers should work to differentiate their user interfaces by creating
distinct ways of organising users’ information and services," said Roberta
Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner. “However, they need to be careful to
maintain application compatibility."
"Mobile phone vendors must invest in their smartphone portfolios to benefit
from the fastest-growing segment of the market and that which is most resistant
to low ASPs,” Milanesi said. “They should also focus on winning developers
and carrier support which will both attract users."