It may seem like everyone around you owns a smartphone but that’s hardly the case on a global scale. Global smartphone penetration is just now nearing 10%, according to new research published by TomiAhonen Consulting. The firm compiled information from Netsize Guide, Informa, Google and Ipsos to grab a snapshot of smartphone penetration in 42 major countries covering 72% of global mobile phone subscriptions. Singapore has the largest recorded feature phone to smartphone migration rate (54%) followed by Canada (39%), Hong Kong (35%), Sweden (35%), Spain (35%) and the United States (35%). Singapore has the largest smartphone user base per capita, too, with a 90% penetration followed by Hong Kong (61%), Sweden (52%), Australia (47%) and Spain (46%). The United States ranked 16th with a 35% penetration rate per capita. The U.S. results are not on a par with figured recently released by Nielsen that suggests smartphone penetration in the United States is 43%. TomiAhonen Consulting also found that the average smartphone user replaces his or her smartphone every 11.5 months. Nokia has a 26% marketshare globally, followed by Apple (17%), RIM (14%), Samsung (12%) and HTC (10%), the report said.

[Via Asymco]

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A recent report from Net Applications suggests that Apple’s iOS and Mac OS X operating systems both achieved a record high global market shares during the month of September. iOS had a global market share of 54.65% for the month, up from the 53.04% grip it had on the market in August. iOS is trailed by Java ME with an 18.52% market share, Android (16.25%)  Symbian (6.12%) and BlackBerry (3.29%). Mac OS X reached a record high 6.45% share of the operating system market during September, up from 6.03% in August, which is dominated by Microsoft’s Windows (92.44%). Linux has a fraction of the market with a small 1.11% piece of the pie. Apple is expected to take the wraps off of its next iPhone during a press conference in Cupertino on October 4th, and we’ll be reporting all the news as it breaks.

Read [Net Applications] Read [2]

Amazon’s $199 tablet is expected by many to be a smash hit when it begins shipping to customers on November 15th, but inexperience with global distribution could prove to be a huge barrier for the fledgling tablet vendor. DigiTimes cited anonymous industry sources on Thursday in reporting that sales of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet may “not be significant” outside the U.S., the tablet’s initial launch market, and Europe due to the retail giant’s lack of experience with channel sales abroad. The report notes that Amazon will have to develop relationships with regional channel operators in order to facilitate delivery in regions where shipping electronics via standard parcel services is prohibited. “Cooperating with channel operators will be a must as well as a challenge for Amazon as it cannot compete efficiently with Apple utilizing only its current sales platform and online shopping channels,” DigiTimes’ source said.

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U.S. citizens will use the mobile networks to access the Internet more than wireline networks by 2015 according to IDC’s Worldwide New Media Market Model, 1H11 report which was released on Monday. Smartphone and tablet sales are expected to be the driving catalyst for the growth of mobile Internet use, which IDC predicts will increase 16.6% between 2010 and 2015. Internet usage in Western Europe and Japan is expected to follow a similar trend. IDC suggested the total number of worldwide Internet users will grow from 2 billion in 2010 to 2.7 billion in 2015, when IDC predicts 40% of the global population will have access to the Internet. “Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet,” said Karsten Weide, research vice president, Media and Entertainment. “Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it’s going to make the Internet a very different place.” Read on for the full release from IDC.

IDC: More Mobile Internet Users Than Wireline Users in the U.S. by 2015

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the Internet through mobile devices than through PCs or other wireline devices. As smartphones begin to outsell simpler feature phones, and as media tablet sales explode, the number of mobile Internet users will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6% between 2010 and 2015. The newest release of the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide New Media Market Model (NMMM) forecasts that the impact of smartphone and, especially, media tablet adoption will be so great that the number of users accessing the Internet through PCs will first stagnate and then slowly decline. Western Europe and Japan will not be far behind the U.S. in following this trend.

“Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet”

The New Media Market Model also finds:

• Worldwide, the total number of Internet user will grow from 2 billion in 2010 to 2.7 billion in 2015, when 40% of the world’s population will have access to its vast resources.
• Global B2C ecommerce spending will grow from $708 billion in 2010 to $1,285 billion in 2015 at a CAGR of 12.7%.
• Worldwide online advertising will increase from $70 billion in 2010 to $138 billion in 2015, with its share of total advertising across all media growing from 11.9% to 17.8%.

“Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet,” said Karsten Weide, research vice president, Media and Entertainment. “Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it’s going to make the Internet a very different place.”

IDC’s Worldwide New Media Market Model, 1H11 (Doc #230024) is the only model that provides blanket data for the most important consumer Internet metrics for more than 40 countries, the regions, and the world, based on one consistent model. Its more than 150,000 data points cover basic socioeconomic data, user numbers, access device numbers, home broadband Internet access penetration, time spent online, online activities, B2B and B2B ecommerce spending, online advertising, and consumer spending on content. This model also breaks out all numbers between the wireline and mobile segments. The New Media Market Model is delivered as a semi-annual Excel database and contains current market-sizing and a five-year forecast.

Verizon Wireless announced on Tuesday that it will offer the BlackBerry Torch 9850 on September 8th for $199.99 with a new two-year contract. The Torch 9850 offers a full 3.7-inch touchscreen display with an 800 x 480-pixel resolution, a 1.2GHz processor, support for global roaming in more than 200 countries, a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD video and 16GB of storage. The Torch 9850 was first unveiled during a RIM event in Toronto on August 3rd where we published hands-on impressions of the phone. It is the best full-touchscreen smartphone RIM has sold and its browser is much improved, but the BlackBerry 7 operating still feels stale in comparison to Android, Windows Phone and iOS. Read on for the full press release from Verizon Wireless.

BlackBerry Torch 9850 to be Available on the Nation’s Most Reliable Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon Wireless today announced the new BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 smartphone will be available online at www.verizonwireless.com on Sept. 8, and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on Sept. 15.

Watch videos, play games and stay productive on the largest display and highest resolution on a BlackBerry smartphone to date.  Powered by the new BlackBerry® 7 operating system, customers can enjoy the next generation BlackBerry browser with optimized zooming, panning and HTML 5 performance.  BlackBerry® Balance is now integrated, allowing secure access to business information while preventing it from being copied into, sent from or used by personal applications.  Customers can stay connected to their personal and business lives while in or out of the office.

Key features:

• 3G coverage on the nation’s most reliable network
• 3.7-inch high-resolution touchscreen display (800 x 480) with trackpad navigation
• 1.2 GHz processor
• Global Ready™ – Quad band with support for UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS and EDGE allowing customers to enjoy wireless voice and data service in more than 200 countries, including more than 95 with 3G speeds
• 5-megapixel camera with flash and 720p HD video recording capabilities
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS and Bluetooth® 2.1
• 16 GB microSD™ card pre-installed, with support for up to 32 GB microSD card

BlackBerry 7:

• Liquid Graphics™ technology combines a dedicated high-performance graphics processor with a blazingly fast CPU and stunning high-resolution display to deliver a responsive touch interface with incredibly fast and smooth graphics.
• Premium version of Documents To Go is now included at no additional cost, offering customers enhanced document editing features, as well as a native PDF document viewer.
• The newest release of BBM™ (BlackBerry Messenger) now extends the real-time BBM experience together with a range of apps including gaming and social networking.
• Updated Social Feeds app has been extended to capture updates from media, podcasts and more, all in one consolidated view.
• Universal search capability now supports voice-activated search, allowing customers to simply say what they want to find on their device or the Web.
• BlackBerry Balance administrator can remotely wipe business information from the device while leaving personal information intact.

Pricing and availability:

• BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphone will be available for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
• Customers that purchase a BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphone will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

Android-powered tablets have taken 20% of the global tablet market from Apple’s iPad over the past 12 months according to new data from ABI Research. While Android tablets have collectively managed to make a sizable dent in the iPad’s global market share, ABI says no single tablet vendor has managed to “mount a significant challenge” against the iPad at this point. “Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple,” ABI Research mobile devices group director Jeff Orr said in a statement. ”In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads. Apple, never a company to be waiting for others, has introduced its second-generation iPad media tablet while keeping product pricing unchanged.” Orr continued, “De-featured, low-cost media tablets are being introduced by more than fifty vendors in 2011. This will certainly help bolster year-over-year growth for the category, but it also creates a negative perception in the minds of the mass consumer audience about the readiness of media tablets to be fully functional within the next several years. Good user experiences and product response are needed to propel this market beyond the ‘early adopter’ stage.” ABI Reseach’s full press release follows below.

Android Takes 20% Media Tablet Market Share from iPad in Last 12 Months

NEW YORK – August 11, 2011

Worldwide annual media tablet shipments are expected to top 120 million units in 2015. While not quite as strong as traditional PC or smartphone annual sales, media tablets are emerging from the shadow of non-handset mobile devices and rapidly coming into their own. Android media tablets have collectively taken 20% market share away from the iPad in the last 12 months. However, no single vendor using Android (or any other OS) has been able to mount a significant challenge against it.

ABI Research mobile devices group director Jeff Orr comments, “Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple. In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads. Apple, never a company to be waiting for others, has introduced its second-generation iPad media tablet while keeping product pricing unchanged.”

Fragmentation within operating system software is hindering growth of this device category. Application developers must choose an initial software platform and may delay starting development if the market potential is not significant. Google’s Android OS has no less than three different software builds deployed across media tablets at the same time. The benefits of open software platform development have yet to be realized for media tablets.

“De-featured, low-cost media tablets are being introduced by more than fifty vendors in 2011,” Orr says. “This will certainly help bolster year-over-year growth for the category, but it also creates a negative perception in the minds of the mass consumer audience about the readiness of media tablets to be fully functional within the next several years. Good user experiences and product response are needed to propel this market beyond the ‘early adopter’ stage.”

ABI Research’s new “Media Tablets” study defines the product category, discusses market drivers and inhibitors, and provides information about distribution channels, go-to-market strategies, product pricing, and availability. The report also presents information about device features, capabilities, and use cases, and provides forecasts of media tablet shipments and price bands.

It is part of the firm’s Tablets, Netbooks, and Mobile CE Research Service.

Gartner on Thursday issued its global mobile phone sales data for the second quarter, which shows that the industry grew 16.5% from the same quarter last year, to 428.7 million units. Smartphone sales jumped 74% year-on-year, with 107.7 million smartphones having been sold to end users around the world. “Smartphone sales continued to rise at the expense of feature phones,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement. “Consumers in mature markets are choosing entry-level and midrange Android smartphones over feature phones, partly due to carriers’ and manufacturers’ promotions.” Android was the top smartphone operating system in the second quarter with a market share of 43.4% and unit sales totaling 46.78 million devices, and Symbian’s 23.85 million devices secured it a No. 2 position with 22.1% of the smartphone OS market. Apple’s iOS held 18.2% of the smartphone market last quarter, followed by RIM’s BlackBerry OS at 11.7%, Samsung’s Bada OS at 1.9% and Microsoft mobile platforms at 1.6%. Gartner also said Nokia was the world’s top smartphone vendor in the second quarter, though it did not provide data to support this claim in its press release, which follows below.

Gartner Says Sales of Mobile Devices in Second Quarter of 2011 Grew 16.5 Percent Year-on-Year; Smartphone Sales Grew 74 Percent

ZTE Became Fifth-Largest Mobile Phone Manufacturer and RIM Dropped to No. 6

Egham, UK, August 11, 2011—

Worldwide sales of mobile devices to end users totaled 428.7 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 16.5 percent increase from the second quarter of 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. (see Table 1).

The channel built up stock at the end of the first quarter of 2011 in preparation of possible component shortages following the Japanese earthquake. As a result, sell-in demand slowed in the second quarter of 2011 to 421.1 million units, a 4.4 percent decrease from the previous quarter.

Sales of smartphones were up 74 percent year-on-year and accounted for 25 percent of overall sales in the second quarter of 2011, up from 17 percent in the second quarter of 2010.

“Smartphone sales continued to rise at the expense of feature phones,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Consumers in mature markets are choosing entry-level and midrange Android smartphones over feature phones, partly due to carriers’ and manufacturers’ promotions.” However, replacement sales in Western Europe showed signs of fatigue as smartphone sales declined quarter-on-quarter.

Table 1
Worldwide Mobile Device Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q11 (Thousands of Units)

Vendor	2Q11 Units	2Q11 Market Share (%)	2Q10 Units	2Q10 Market Share (%)
Nokia	97,869.3	22.8	111,473.7	30.3
Samsung	69,827.6	16.3	65,328.2	17.8
LG	24,420.8	5.7	29,366.7	8.0
Apple	19,628.8	4.6	8,743.0	2.4
ZTE	13,070.2	3.0	6,730.6	1.8
Research In Motion	12,652.3	3.0	11,628.8	3.2
HTC	11,016.1	2.6	5,908.8	1.6
Motorola	10,221.4	2.4	9,109.4	2.5
Huawei Device	9,026.1	2.1	5,276.4	1.4
Sony Ericsson	7,266.5	1.7	11,008.5	3.0
Others	153,662.1	35.8	103,412.6	28.1
Total	428,661.2	100.0	367,986.7	100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2011)

In smartphones, Nokia’s sales into the channel in the second quarter of 2011 were low. This was partly due to a very competitive market that deflated demand for Symbian, but also to inventory management issues in Europe and China in particular. The channel bought less and worked hard to reduce stock levels, partly by cutting prices on older products. These factors reduced Nokia’s average selling price for smartphones, compared to the first quarter of 2011. “The sales efforts of the channel, combined with Nokia’s greater concentration in retail and distributors’ sales, saw Nokia destock more than 9 million units overall and 5 million smartphones, helping it hold on to its position as the leading smartphone manufacturer by volume,” said Ms. Cozza. “However, we will not see a repeat of this performance in the third quarter of 2011, as Nokia’s channel is pretty lean.”

Samsung achieved strong growth in sales of mobile devices. For example, the Galaxy S II sold well, and this model went on to chalk up 5 million sales by the end of July. A strong performance in the smartphone market helped Samsung increase its market share, to become the third-largest smartphone vendor. However, its overall share dropped year-on-year, and grew only marginally quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to Samsung’s weaker presence in more price-sensitive market segments.

Apple continued to exceed expectations, even though the iPhone 4 will soon be replaced by a new model. Part of its growth came from the 42 new carriers and 15 new countries that it entered in the second quarter of 2011, which brought its total coverage to 100 countries. This expansion caused its inventory to grow a little by the end of the second quarter of 2011, when sales to end users stood at 19.6 million units. In mainland China, Apple is the seventh-largest mobile phone vendor and the third-largest smartphone vendor.

Research In Motion’s (RIM’s) share of the smartphone market declined to 12 percent in the second quarter of 2011, from 19 percent a year ago. Also, the company lost its No. 5 position in the worldwide ranking of mobile device vendors to ZTE. Demand for RIM’s devices in the second quarter was impaired by an ageing portfolio and delays in shipping products. In the coming quarters RIM will have to deal with increased competition to its messaging offering and manage a platform migration from BlackBerry 7 to QNX.

Google and Apple are the obvious winners in the smartphone ecosystem. The combined share of iOS and Android in the smartphone operating system (OS) market doubled to nearly 62 percent in the second quarter of 2011, up from just over 31 percent in the corresponding period of 2010 (see Table 2). Gartner analysts observed that these two OSs have the usability that consumers enjoy, the apps that consumers feel they need, and increasingly a portfolio of services delivered by the platform owner as well.

Table 2
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q11 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System	2Q11 Units	2Q11 Market Share (%)	2Q10 Units	2Q10 Market Share (%)
Android	46,775.9	43.4	10,652.7	17.2
Symbian	23,853.2	22.1	25,386.8	40.9
iOS	19,628.8	18.2	8,743.0	14.1
Research In Motion	12,652.3	11.7	11,628.8	18.7
Bada	2,055.8	1.9	577.0	0.9
Microsoft	1,723.8	1.6	3,058.8	4.9
Others	1,050.6	1.0	2,010.9	3.2
Total	107,740.4	100.0	62,058.1	100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2011)

“We expect manufacturers and distributors to remain cautious about raising their stock levels in the second half of 2011, following the recent uncertainty on the world financial markets,” said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner. Gartner expects sales of mobile devices to grow around 12 percent in 2011.

For more information, see the Gartner report “Market Share: Mobile Communication Devices by Region and Country, 2Q11” which is available on Gartner’s website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1764117.

Apple was once again reaffirmed as the world’s No. 1 smartphone vendor on Thursday as market research firm IDC released its data for the June quarter. Smartphone shipments in the second quarter of this year totaled 106.6 million according to IDC, up from 64.4 million in the same quarter last year. Of that total, Apple owned 19.1% with 20.34 million smartphones shipped, making it the top vendor by volume and by profit in the quarter. “Apple’s success can be directly attributed to its distribution (more than 200 carriers in more than 200 countries), increased manufacturing capacity, and solid demand within emerging and developed markets from both consumers and business users,” IDC said. “Apple’s emergence as the number one smartphone vendor worldwide comes at a time when former worldwide leader Nokia is in the midst of a major transition. However, Apple has yet to top Nokia’s single-quarter volume record of 28.1 million units. But given Apple’s momentum in the smartphone market, it may not be a question of whether Apple will beat that milestone, but when.” IDC noted that Samsung was the No. 2 smartphone vendor last quarter with 16.2% and Nokia slid to No. 3 globally with 15.7% of the market. Several other market researchers have released estimates placing Apple at the top of the smartphone totem, including Strategy Analytics, which recently said Apple beat out Samsung (19.2 million smartphones shipped) and Nokia (16.7 million) to take the top spot. It noted, however, that Samsung’s 520% growth year-over-year far exceeded Apple’s 140% growth during the same period.

The launch of Apple’s next-generation iPhone will propel global iPhone sales to 30 million units in the calendar fourth quarter of this year, BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk wrote on Wednesday. BTIG had previously estimated that Apple would sell 21.5 million iPhone handsets in the fourth quarter, but in light of Apple having recently reporting sales of 20.34 million units in the fiscal third quarter, the firm’s previous estimate is almost certainly low. Piecyk also believes Apple may sell more than 10 million iPhones in the U.S. alone in the fourth quarter. AT&T, he says, could sell as many as 5 million Apple phones next quarter thanks to the iPhone 5 launch and the possible continuation of a $50 legacy iPhone model. Verizon could sell as many as 4 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, making up 45% of the carrier’s smartphone sales in the quarter; Piecyk thinks Verizon’s continued success with 4G LTE-enabled Android smartphones will drive total smartphone sales to 9 million units in the quarter. Finally, the analyst sees Sprint launching the fifth-generation iPhone this fall, and he estimates sales of 1.5 million units in the fourth quarter.

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While Apple owns the largest share of handset shipments and profits among the world’s top smartphone vendors, Android is still the No. 1 smartphone operating system on the planet by a wide margin. Market research firm Canalys on Monday released its second-quarter smartphone figures, reaffirming impressive growth across the global smartphone industry. The firm says the worldwide smartphone market grew 73% year-over-year to more than 107.7 million units shipped last quarter, and Android lead the market in 35 of the 56 countries Canalys tracks. According to the firm’s estimates, Android shipments in the second quarter ballooned 379% over the same quarter last year to 51.9 million units. This impressive growth helped Android gain 48% of global smartphone shipments in the quarter. With 20.3 million iOS smartphones shipped in the June quarter, Apple’s mobile OS topped Symbian to steal the No. 2 spot with a 19% share of the global market. BlackBerry shipments grew 11% in Q2 though RIM’s global share slid, and Microsoft, still waiting for Nokia to launch its first batch of Windows Phones, shipped fewer than 1.5 million devices last quarter to take just 1% of the market — down 52% year-over-year. Canalys also notes that Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the second quarter, while Samsung grew 421% year-over-year to take the No. 2 spot with 17 million smartphones shipped. Canalys’ full press release follows below.

Android takes almost 50% share of worldwide smart phone market

iOS becomes second largest smart phone platform

Palo Alto, Singapore and Reading (UK) – Monday, 1 August 2011

Canalys today published its final worldwide country-level Q2 2011 smart phone market estimates, showing substantial market growth in all regions. Globally, the market grew 73% year-on-year, with in excess of 107.7 million units shipping in the second quarter of 2011. Of the 56 countries Canalys tracks around the world, Android led in 35 of them and achieved a global market share of 48%. Asia Pacific (APAC) remained the largest regional market, with 39.8 million units shipping there, compared with 35.0 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and 32.9 million in the Americas.

Android, the number one platform by shipments since Q4 2010, was also the strongest growth driver this quarter, with Android-based smart phone shipments up 379% over a year ago to 51.9 million units. Growth was bolstered by strong Android product performances from a number of vendors, including Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, ZTE and Huawei. The final country-level data delivered to clients today shows there were particularly strong performances from Android devices in APAC countries, such as South Korea, where Android holds an 85% platform share, and Taiwan, where it has 71%.

With shipments of 20.3 million iPhones and a market share of 19%, iOS overtook Nokia’s Symbian platform during the quarter to take second place worldwide. In doing so, Apple also became the world’s leading individual smart phone vendor, stripping Nokia of its long-held leadership position.

‘The iPhone has been a phenomenal success story for Apple and a watershed product for the market,’ said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst Chris Jones. ‘It’s an impressive success story, given that Apple has only been in the smart phone market for four years. With the next-generation iPhone anticipated in Q3, it’s likely that Apple’s position will grow even stronger in the second half of the year.’

Samsung also moved ahead of Nokia, with its flagship Galaxy S II product performing well, but its overall performance was underwhelming, considering the opportunities offered by the upheaval at Nokia.

‘Samsung has failed to fully capitalize on Nokia’s weakened state around the world, as the Finnish company rides out a challenging transitional period,’ said Jones. ‘It’s the best placed vendor to grow at Nokia’s expense, taking advantage of its global scale and channel reach, but it hasn’t yet done enough to capitalize on this, particularly in emerging markets.’

Samsung was the largest Android device vendor and the number two vendor overall in the market with shipments of its own-branded devices at 17.0 million units. Its year-on-year growth of 421% was helped by significant growth of 355% in its bada smart phone shipments. Samsung also acts as an ODM for the Google Nexus S and T-Mobile Sidekick 4G, collectively estimated to have shipped 0.7 million units.

Nokia’s leadership position has proved most resilient in key emerging markets, and it still leads in the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. ‘The problem for Nokia is that demand for its Symbian-based smart phones has dissipated very rapidly, particularly in operator-led markets, such as Western Europe, where it’s been strong in the past,’ said Canalys Principal Analyst Pete Cunningham. ‘It badly needs the first of its Windows Phone devices to launch as soon as possible to arrest a decline and, hopefully, silence its critics.’

‘While it is committed to launching a device before the end of the year, we do not expect to see it until mid-to-late Q4, and it will be much longer before a portfolio of Nokia Windows Phone smart phones drives volumes. Nokia is set to have several more difficult quarters before a possible reversal of fortunes,’ added Cunningham.

Microsoft is also eager to see Nokia’s first Windows Phone products, along with those from its other OEM partners, ship with its Mango update. ‘A fresh crop of products is certainly needed,’ said Jones. Fewer than 1.5 million Microsoft-based smart phones shipped during the quarter, equating to a mere 1% share of the global market, down 52% against shipments a year ago.

Windows Phone OEM partner HTC saw Android driving the vast majority of its portfolio, but Canalys expects it to continue to be a leading provider of Windows Phone products. HTC achieved particular success in North America this quarter, climbing to a 21% share and consolidating its second place position, while Apple’s North American share dropped from 31% last quarter to 25% this quarter.

RIM had a challenging quarter in North America, with its market share slipping to 12%, down from 33% a year ago, leading to negative press coverage in the United States. But RIM’s global shipments grew 11% year on year, keeping it the number one vendor in Latin America with a 28% share.

‘It’s easy to be negative about BlackBerry in the US, but it’s important to remember that in other markets, particularly emerging markets, it continues to see significant interest and uptake of its devices, for example in Indonesia and South Africa where it is the leading smart phone vendor,’ said Jones. ‘Nonetheless, it must continue to innovative and recapture lost momentum. It’s critical that the next-generation BlackBerry OS 7-based products launch ahead of the upcoming holiday season to compete in the market.’

BGR reported last week that Apple had passed Nokia in the second quarter of 2011 to become the world’s top smartphone vendor by volume. The Cupertino-based company had already been No. 1 in the world by profits for quite some time. On Friday, market analysis firm Strategy Analytics released its second-quarter smartphone shipment figures and reaffirmed Apple’s new position atop the market. Apple shipped 20.3 million smartphones last quarter, up more than 140% from the 8.4 million iPhones it shipped in the same quarter last year. The only company to show more impressive gains: Samsung. The South Korea-based vendor slid into the No. 2 spot by growing a remarkable 520% year-over-year to ship 19.2 million smartphones last quarter. Falling to No. 3 on the global market share list is Nokia, which shipped 16.7 smartphones in the second quarter of 2011, down from 23.8 million devices in the same quarter last year. Strategy Analytics reports global market share distribution in the June quarter at 18.5% for Apple, 17.5% for Samsung, 15.2% for Nokia and 48.9% for other manufacturers. The firm’s full press release follows below.

Strategy Analytics: Apple Becomes World’s Number One Smartphone Vendor in Q2 2011

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew an impressive 76 percent annually to reach a record 110 million units in the second quarter of 2011. Both Apple and Samsung overtook long-time volume leader Nokia for the top two spots in our rankings.

Alex Spektor, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments grew a healthy 76 percent annually to reach a record 110 million units in Q2 2011. We had previously reported on Apple becoming the largest smartphone vendor in terms of revenue and profits. Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share. Apple’s growth remained strong as it expanded distribution worldwide, particularly in China and Asia.”

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Samsung overtook Nokia to become the world’s second largest smartphone vendor in Q2 2011. Samsung’s shipments grew a huge 520 percent annually, for 17 percent global smartphone market share. Samsung’s Galaxy portfolio has proven popular, especially the high-tier S2 Android model.”

Tom Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Having become the first ever vendor to ship 100 million smartphones in a single year during 2010, long-time leader Nokia has slipped two places in our rankings in Q2 2011. The vendor’s 15 percent global smartphone market share is less than half of what it was just one year earlier, as the industry awaits Nokia’s pending transition to Windows Phone 7.”

Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q2 2011
Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q2 ’10		Q2 ’11
Apple	8.4		20.3
Samsung	3.1		19.2
Nokia	23.8		16.7
Others	27.1		53.8
Total	62.4		110.0
Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare %	Q2 ’10		Q2 ’11
Apple	13.5	%	18.5	%
Samsung	5.0	%	17.5	%
Nokia	38.1	%	15.2	%
Others	43.4	%	48.9	%
Total	100.0	%	100.0	%
Growth Year-over-Year %	50.4	%	76.3	%

The full report, Apple Becomes World’s No.1 Smartphone Vendor in Q2 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2cpmn32.

More than 420 million smartphones will be sold around the world in 2011, accounting for 28% of total cell phone sales according to market research firm IMS Research. The firm sees the recent surge of more affordable smartphones as playing a major role in the continued growth of the market, and IMS analysts estimate that global smartphone sales will reach 1 billion devices by 2016 thanks to entry-level smart handsets. In recent months however, IMS’ data shows that Apple has made some of the largest gains in the space, accounting for 19% of global smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 16% in the same quarter last year. Of course Apple’s share continued to climb in the second quarter as well, as the company reported industry-leading sales of 20.4 million smartphones. The only company that made more impressive unit sales gains year-over-year in the first quarter was Samsung according to IMS; the South Korea-based vendor accounted for 13% of smartphones sold in the first quarter compared to just 3% in the same quarter in 2010. The biggest losers in the first quarter were Nokia, which slid from a 40% share in the first quarter last year to 24% in Q1 2010, and RIM, which dropped from 20% to 15% over the same period. The firm’s full press release follows below.

Global Smartphones Sales Will Top 420 Million Devices in 2011, Taking 28 Percent of all Handsets, According to IMS Research Apple and Samsung see Strongest Growth as Nokia Fades

Austin, TX, July 27, 2011 – Sales of smartphones will exceed 420 million devices in 2011, accounting for nearly 28 percent of the entire global handset market, according to IMS Research, the leading independent provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry. With the introduction of more affordable “entry-level” smartphones, IMS Research predicts that annual sales will surpass one billion devices by the end of 2016, accounting for one of every two mobile handsets sold.

“But despite the higher margins for smartphones, and the seemingly insatiable consumer appetite for converged devices, it is clear that not all OEMS are equally positioned to capitalize on this market trend,” says Josh Builta, analyst in IMS’ Mobile Technologies Group. “For instance, LG, despite being the third largest OEM in the world, has offered a fairly limited smartphone portfolio in recent years, a factor that resulted in the company reaching less than a three percent share of the total smartphone market in 2010.”

At the same time Nokia saw its portion of smartphone market decline so dramatically that in early 2011 the company dropped the Symbian platform in favor of Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. In 2Q 2011, Nokia reported smartphone sales fell to 16.7 million, down 34 percent from the same period in 2010.

“Clearly one of the key dynamics of the mobile handset competitive environment in recent years has been the inability of many traditional market leaders to recognize and adjust to the growing smartphone tier,” adds Builta, “The reasons for these failures vary and include everything from poorly designed and manufactured devices, unsatisfactory user interfaces, and portfolios that don’t offer products with a differentiating feature. These lapses have created opportunities for newer entrants to the market, which they have aggressively pursued.”

In recent years, no company has flourished in this environment as much as Apple. Apple’s 2Q 2011 results in which it reported record sales of more than 20 million iPhones indicates it can be expected to remain an influential presence in the market despite the increased competition.

However, Apple is not alone in its success. Of the traditional handset manufacturers, Samsung has demonstrated the best results in recent years. Capitalizing on its diverse portfolio – which includes devices using the company’s own bada operating system along with Android and Windows Mobile – as well as its highly popular Galaxy series, Samsung smartphone market share increased from about three percent in 1Q 2010 to over 13 percent in 1Q 2011. At the same time smaller, dedicated smartphone vendors such as HTC have seen their position rise dramatically.

According to Builta, “These companies are well positioned to benefit from the projected growth of the smartphone market in the future. Though the other OEMs are stepping up their efforts in the space, companies such as Apple, HTC and Samsung have a considerable amount of momentum. Catching them will not be an easy task.”

IMS Research examines and tracks quarterly handset and smartphone market shares in its Mobile Handset Market Intelligence Service & Database. A valuable tool for companies requiring 24/7 access to the most up-to-date information on the mobile market, this service also provides up-to-date information on cellular subscribers, handset shipments, and mobile handset feature penetration. Provided with the database access is the Quarterly Market report, which offers subscribers additional insight and analysis on recent developments in the mobile handset market.

Microsoft has yet to launch its tablet-optimized operating system and yet slates running various versions of the Windows operating system still managed to outsell Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook last quarter. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics’ latest report, Windows-powered media tablets owned 4.6% of the global market in the second quarter of 2011. In the same period, RIM’s PlayBook made up just 3.3% of the market. The firm also shows that competition may finally be heating up in the tablet space. Apple, which owned more than 94% of the market in the second quarter last year, saw the iPad’s share slide to 61.3% according to Strategy Analytics. Over the same period of time, Android tablets jumped from a 2.9% share to a 30% share last quarter. Strategy Analytics’ report comes just one week after rumors surfaced that RIM may soon discontinue its current Wi-Fi tablet. RIM would later adamantly deny the rumors, saying it had “no plan to discontinue” production of its Wi-Fi PlayBook. RIM stated last month that it shipped 500,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in the fiscal first quarter following the tablet’s debut this past April.

Google’s Android activations aren’t slowing down anytime soon. The search giant announced in its second-quarter earnings report yesterday that there are now 550,000 Android smartphones activated each day. That’s a massive figure, and it’s up from June when Google’s Andy Rubin revealed that his company was activating a half a million devices daily. Rubin also noted in June that activations were growing at a rate of 4.4% week over week. If that growth isn’t stunning enough, get this: just two months ago Google said that it was activating 400,000 devices each day and that there were 100 million Android devices in use worldwide. That number is now up to about 130 million and going by Google’s newly revealed stats, it sounds like 200 million devices isn’t that far out of reach.

Microsoft announced on Monday that it has sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses to date, but that hasn’t stopped the tech giant’s share of the global operating system market from sliding. According to market watcher Net Applications’ data for June 2011, Microsoft’s global operating system market share slid to 88.29% as it continued on its slow but steady decline. The second most popular OS in the world was Apple’s OS X, which was up a nominal amount to 5.37% of the global OS market, followed by iOS with 2.63%, Java ME with 1.12% and Linux with 0.95%. Though Android devices continue to sell rapidly, Net Applications placed the OS in the No. 6 spot in June with 0.72% of the global market. Since January of this year, Apple’s OS X and iOS market shares have risen steadily while Windows continues to slide. According to Net Applications’ revised data, Windows’ OS share dropped below 90% in January of this year for the first time since it climbed above the threshold. It had been reported earlier that the OS slid under 90% last November, but Net Applications has since updated its figures to show that Windows held a 90.81% share in November 2010 and a 90.29% share in December. Two charts showcasing Net Applications’ June data follow below.