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Smartphone sales report from Gartner |
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Monday, 09 June 2008 |
In the first quarter of 2008, worldwide smartphone sales to end users grew 29 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2007, reaching 32.2 million units, according to the latest report from Gartner. Smartphones accounted for 11 per cent of the global mobile device market. Smartphone sales in Europe,
Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) totalled 11.7 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 38.7 per cent increase from the first quarter of 2008. In
North America, smartphone sales totalled 7.3 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 106.2 per cent increase from the same period last year.
During the quarter, Nokia commanded more than 45% of the global smartphone market, with sales up 25% year-on-year. Nokia continued to maintain its leadership in EMEA, Asia/Pacific and
Latin America due to the variety of its smartphone portfolio, which includes a number of both high-end and mid-tier models available at different price points.
In the first quarter of 2008, RIM held onto second place in the global vendor rankings and improved its share to 13.4%. RIM's sales volume has been driven by sales of its prosumer/consumer-focused devices, the BlackBerry Curve and
Pearl. In the
US market, RIM maintained its No. 1 ranking with its share totalling 42%.
Apple moved into the third spot in the global smartphone market with 5.3% share. It sold 1.72 million units in the quarter. In the
US, Apple became the No. 2 vendor in smartphone sales with its market share reaching with 20%.
"Smartphone growth was driven by replacement markets such as Europe, and smartphone sales also benefited from continued growth in the
U.S. market, which increased its regional share to almost equal sales in Western Europe," said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in
Egham,
UK. "The beginning of the year was marked by announcements regarding touch screens, smartphone usability and application integration. These key trends had already emerged in the second half of 2007, and during 2008 we can expect them to mature further and become the focus for more handset vendors and carriers as they expand their current portfolios to include more open-platform devices."
"Despite economic concerns, the smartphone market continued to expand in the
United States, driven by heavy advertising and strong marketing promotions as more devices reached mass market price points," said Hugues De La Vergne, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner, based in
Dallas,
Texas. "North American operators are giving these devices strong support, as they provide higher average revenue per unit (ARPU). We expect operators to continue to make these devices the focus of 2008 promotions."
www.gartner.com |
