Smartphone Market Share Update

There are two market share studies that have just been released showing the changing landscape in smartphone choices. First, from IDC, the results show worldwide shipments and market share year over year with Apple taking the number one spot and dramatically outpacing the overall mobile phone industry. Apple captured 18.5% of world market share. Both Apple and Samsung surpassed Nokia in smartphone shipments for the first time last quarter as the Finnish company sold fewer units from its aging Symbian product lines.

Global smartphone shipments grew a healthy 76 percent annually to reach a record 110 million units in Q2 2011. Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share. Nokia was the Industry leader up until last year but their share has continued to plummet, sinking to 15% in the second quarter from 38% a year ago.

The second report, compliments of Nielsen Research, shows the smartphone market share stats for the U.S. for Q2, 2011. No surprise here that Android smartphones combined have taken the number 1 spot and that Apple has the next lead. The breakdown is as follows:

Apple’s number one phone maker spot is impressive given it just has the iPhone, compared to Android’s dozens of handsets. And it’s worth noting that Apple currently has litigation against both HTC and Samsung that have both companies scrambling to prevent injunctions blocking sales of their Android phones in the U. S.

RIM, who owned the market until a few years back, comes in at 20 percent. An interesting note to HTC share- if you add Microsoft OS-powered devices to their Android share, they also account for 20 percent of the hardware market. Overall, the landscape has certainly changed in favor of Android and Apple. For the manufacturers, my bets are for Apple to stay as number one for the rest of 2011; and it’s a race with HTC, Samsung and Motorola.