30 October 2012

Smartphone growth of 45% for Q3 drives mobile market, led by Samsung 

In third-quarter 2012, global mobile phone market shipments were 444.5 million mobile phones, up 2.4% on 434.1 million units in Q3/2011, according to the Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker of market research firm International Data Corp (IDC). Growth was driven by Samsung and Apple, while Nokia dropped off the top-5 list of smartphone vendors.

In the smartphone sector, vendors shipped 179.7 million units, up 45.3% on 123.7 million units a year ago (slightly above IDC’s growth forecast of 45.2%).

Equally noteworthy was the decline of Nokia, which was displaced by Research In Motion from the smartphone top-5 (where it had resided since the inception of IDC’s Mobile Phone Tracker in 2004). This precipitated by the rise of Samsung and Apple globally as well as high-growth vendors like Huawei in China, where Nokia was the dominant player as recently as Q3/2011.

“Nokia’s share losses have meant gains for competitors,” notes Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “The company’s transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to ones shipped with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months. However, the smartphone market is still relatively nascent, which means there's room for multiple vendors and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia,” he adds. 

“Nokia is not the only smartphone vendor in transition,” adds Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team. “Research In Motion, although still a market leader, expects to start shipping its first BB10 devices in 2013. Motorola, once the number-3 smartphone vendor worldwide, is re-directing itself under its parent company Google,” he adds. “These are just two vendors among many that feel the competitive pressure of Samsung and Apple, but are striving to create multiple points of differentiation to assert upward pressure.”

Nonetheless, IDC expects long-term mobile phone and smartphone shipment demand to grow due to the central role mobile phones play in people’s lives. “Mobile phones and smartphones play a critical role in keeping people connected, regardless of location,” says Llamas. “In addition, their utility beyond communication – productivity, entertainment, and multimedia – continues to add to their value.” 

Table 1: Top five smartphone vendors, shipments and market share, Q3/2012 (units in millions). 

Table 2: Top-five mobile phone vendors, shipments and market share, Q3/2012 (units in millions). 

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

Smartphone vendor highlights

Samsung maintained its leadership position in the smartphone market, posting another record quarter for itself and the industry (and more than double the total volume of its next closest competitor, Apple). This marks the first quarter since Q4/2009 that a single company has held more than 31% market share. Growth was fueled largely by Samsung’s broad, deep and refreshed Android portfolio, highlighted by the full-quarter availability of its flagship model Galaxy S III. The firm also announced multiple mid-range and mass-market models, including a new Windows Phone, the ATIV S.

Apple iPhone shipments finished the quarter nearly flat on the prior quarter, reaching 26.9 million units. Although the iPhone 5 was only on the market for one week in Q3, its aggressive rollout resulted in more than 5 million iPhones being sold in the first weekend of availability, which helped buoy Apple’s shipment totals. iPhone sales were not dampened by the introduction of its Maps software, which was not completely ready for use. Instead, the iPhone 5’s larger screen and 4G LTE connectivity generated user interest, says IDC. What remains to be seen is how Apple will fare during the holiday quarter, when the iPhone 5 will be available in more countries worldwide, the firm adds.

Research In Motion’s shipment volumes appear to have flattened, though the firm posted the second-highest year-over-year decline of any of the leading vendors. RIM relied on its older product portfolio and models to achieve its status as a top-5 smartphone seller. Its installed base, which during Q3 topped 80 million active users, provides further evidence of the firm’s widespread presence globally, says IDC. Still, without a new flagship model in time for the holiday season and BB10 models not expected until Q1/2013, its position as a top-5 smartphone vendor will be under tremendous pressure from other companies, the market research firm reckons.

ZTE finished among the top-5 smartphone vendors due to continued international diversification efforts. It has grown its smartphone sales recently due mainly to an uptick in lower-cost smartphone sales in many emerging markets. The firm has traditionally been dependent on sales of phones to China, where it is based, but in Q3 notable progress was made in North America.

HTC clung to the number-5 smartphone spot last quarter due to sales of key models such as the HTC One X and EVO 4G. Continued year-on-year growth in the Asia/Pacific region helped it to offset some of the share losses it endured in key mature markets, namely the USA. The firm hopes to rejuvenate its global fortunes in Q4 with the introduction of the 8X and 8S models, powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8, among others. However, it will have to convince consumers that the differences between the models and Android-powered phones or iPhones are interesting enough to merit a purchase, IDC reckons.

See related items:

Samsung captures record 35% share of 162 million smartphone shipments in Q3

Tags: Smartphone shipments

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