The results are in showing the make up of the global handset market in quarter 3 of 2010. Nokia is down from last year, but retains first place, Samsung is looking healthy in third place with LG slightly down in fourth place. Apple has now overtaken RIM to take fifth place.
Looking at just smartphones Nokia is still first, but dropping quite quickly. Apple is third and RIM is fourth.
IDC said the worldwide mobile phone market grew 14.6 percent in the third quarter of 2010, which the firm said was the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, driven in part by the fast-growing converged mobile device category. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 340.5 million units in 3Q10 compared with 297.1 million units in the third quarter of 2009. Strategy Analytics said annual growth came in at 13 percent compared with a rate of 16 percent during the first six months of 2010.
Research firm ABI said the growth has created a number of factors:
- Component manufacturers have never had it so good. Nokia in particular reported a hardware crunch, especially with displays (e.g. AMOLED) and semiconductor components for low-cost handsets. Nokia’s leading market-share in this segment has increased Nokia’s exposure to the component crunch.
- Vendors that have strong portfolios in smartphones (RIM, Apple, HTC and Motorola) have seen their growth in market-share outperform the market.
- Unless Nokia can resolve its component resourcing challenges, it is likely to be supply-constrained again in the fourth quarter.
- Handset vendors with greater in-house ability to source their own components (e.g. Samsung and LG) will be able to take advantage of the market opportunity to expand volumes.
- Typically a handset boom period is followed by a market softening as customers wait for the next “must have” handset feature innovation to make its way to the market. However, ABI said there is still considerable room for innovation in the smartphone sector, not just “feature innovation” but also “cost reduction innovation,” which should keep customers keen.
