Worldwide Smartphone Sales Slowdown: Samsung on top, Apple falling behind
Posted by: MASMedia in Android, iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, Smartphones, Windows Phone 7
Now that the numbers have been out for a while, it’s time too look at how the major manufacturers fared compared to their rivals.
As demand continued it’s growth in emerging markets, Western markets showed a slowdown as customers were anticipating the next iteration of the iPhone. Although global numbers are still up compared to this time last year, the surprise comes from the sales of more affordable models with features like dual-SIM capabilities.
Nokia still takes 23.9% of global sales, but is still losing overall market share. They still showed sign of life after a challenging second quarter after introducing affordable devices with dual-SIM support in emerging markets.
Samsung can now boast to be the number one smartphone manufacturer after climbing to the top of the competitive mountain. The Galaxy line is mainly responsible, especially the Galaxy SII. Apple, showed evidence of a decline for a second straight quarter as consumers held off buying a new device in anticipation of the recently released iPhone 4S. Now that it is in the market, sales are expected to surge again once more.
As for the competition between the various platforms, Android continues it’s reign as number one with a 52.5% market share with Symbian and iOS running far behind in second and third. In an interesting note, Samsung’s own bada OS is still outselling Microsoft’s Windows Phone, but this isn’t expected to last much longer with Microsoft putting a big marketing push with it’s latest version of it’s OS dubbed Mango.
It will definitely be an intersting holiday season worldwide as manufacturers and software makers battle for your money. How do you think it will turn out? Will Apple pull it out with another win now that things have settled down and the 4S is on the market? Can Samsung hold them off with the Galaxy Nexus? Will Nokia and Microsoft’s WP7 push make a dent in either smartphone giant’s armor? Only time will tell, but it will definitely be fun to watch.
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