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docdivakar
@Warren: I don't presume to speak for @kdboyce but here are two where Apple ...
Warren
How about an example or two of your view on "Applications where Apple still ...
Android wins 35% of Q1 smartphone market
Peter Clarke
5/9/2011 6:41 AM EDT
LONDON – Android led the market smartphones in the first quarter of 2011 with 35 percent market share and 35.7 million units shipped out of a total of 101.0 million shipped in total, according to market research firm Canalys Ltd.
Canalys (Reading, England) puts Android in the lead in smartphones for the second quarter running. At the same time, Canalys stated that Asia Pacific (APAC) became the largest smart phone market region, with year-on-year growth of 98 percent to 37.3 million units, putting it ahead of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). On a country basis, mainland China, South Korea and India delivered strong volumes and registered triple-digit growth.
Overall, worldwide smart phone shipments grew 83 percent to 101.0 million units, compared with a 1Q10. Though its market share shrank from 39 percent a year ago to 24 percent in Q1 2011, Nokia held onto its worldwide leadership position with 24.2 million units shipped – a 13 percent year-on-year rise – despite the current realignment of its platform strategy, staying ahead of RIM in EMEA and Apple in APAC. APAC became the largest region for Nokia, accounting for 53 percent of its overall shipments, overtaking EMEA by more than 3 million units. Canalys said that is country-level data shows that Nokia remains number one in 28 countries, including mainland China, where it grew 79 percent to 8.9 million units, thanks in part to Chinese New Year shipments.
"HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson drove Android shipments in the first quarter, with each vendor shipping well over 3 million devices," said Canalys principal analyst Pete Cunningham. "Samsung also shipped nearly 3.5 million bada operating system-based smart phones, outperforming total shipments of Windows Phone devices by more than a million units."
Nokia, Apple, RIM, Samsung and HTC were the top five global smart phone vendors, as in Q4 2010. Apple continued to make market share gains, reaching 19 percent. RIM’s share, however, dropped in Q1, as its portfolio awaited a refresh and the vendor focused on the PlayBook launch. Overtaking Motorola, LG moved into sixth place, with its Optimus series of Android smart phones doing well in all regions. The US remained the largest country for smart phone shipments, with Apple substantially extending its lead, achieving a share of 31 percent and growth of over 150 percent year-on-year. Volumes were boosted significantly by shipments of the iPhone 4 with Verizon Wireless. Android remained the leading smart phone platform in the US for the third consecutive quarter, with a 49 percent share. Growing by well over 200 percent, HTC became the leading Android vendor in the US and the second-place smart phone vendor in the country overall.
The popularity of 4G-branded models, such as the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, HTC EVO Shift 4G and the T-Mobile myTouch 4G, heavily influenced US market shipments this past quarter. Q1 also marked the first full quarter of LTE smart phone shipments, following Verizon’s 4G network launch in December 2010. Canalys estimates that shipments of these devices reached over 600,000 units.
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prabhakar_deosthali
5/9/2011 7:06 AM EDT
It is heartening to read that NOKIA still leads the lot as far as the worldwide sales are concerned. With a lot of restructuring happening in Nokia in terms of technology partnerships , it is hoped that Nokia will retain its world no 1 position in the coming years
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Warren
5/11/2011 2:43 PM EDT
Interesting comment. Here the article is discussing the newly acquired leadership position of the Android operating system in smartphones and you are "hoping" that Nokia will retain its #1 position as it moves away from its Symbian operating system to Win7. That is interesting.
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chanj
5/9/2011 12:47 PM EDT
The popularity of smartphone is because of the demand of mobile Internet. Both iOS (Apple iPhone) and Android based device fulfill consumers' wish. Windows 7 mobile comes late to the market. Nokia has been lagging in responding to the change of market. Will Nokia be able to maintain its position in the mobile phone market is subjected to their vision to deliver the next best product to the market?
The price tag of Apple iPhone and of most Android based devices is still too high to most consumers in some parts of the world. Shall Nokia focus on making a better and faster smartphone? Or shall Nokia grab another segment of the market?
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selinz
5/9/2011 3:36 PM EDT
Internet, email (messaging), and audio/video can now be experienced on mobile devices with a very small loss in user experience (compared to laptops). Even flash based apps and games run. I see a tendency toward the biggest thing that people can carry around in their shirt pocket or hip holster as being ultimate goal of the one device that will "do all."
Although I reluctantly switched away from MS mobile because timing, the one person that I know that has a Windows phone is very happy with it.
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DJAus
5/9/2011 9:47 PM EDT
With a lead heading like "Android wins 35% of Q1 smartphone market" I would have expected a table that compares the phone OS market shares.
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Neo1
5/9/2011 10:07 PM EDT
Googles Android couldn't have been better timed in retrospect. It has taken the world of smart phone by storm and continues to make inroads. It has reduced the BOM and NRE costs for the OEM's while simultanesouly shortening the release times for each new model. How else could so many highend phones come out in such a short span of time. But the vendors are doing little else to distinguish amongst themseleves. They make good money in the short run but run the risk of becoming prey to look alikes.
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cdhmanning
5/10/2011 11:10 PM EDT
Anyone can grab the Android code and put that on any device, whereas MS will only license their phone software according to strict rules.
Surely there is less fear of becoming a look-alike with Android than MS.
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kdboyce
5/9/2011 11:58 PM EDT
A year from now Android will be the OS of choice for tablets and will be giving the iPad a run for the money in most areas except for Applications where Apple still excels.
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Warren
5/11/2011 2:45 PM EDT
How about an example or two of your view on "Applications where Apple still excels"?
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docdivakar
5/16/2011 4:15 PM EDT
@Warren: I don't presume to speak for @kdboyce but here are two where Apple excels in apps:
1.Not playing any flash content! This, it does, very vehemently!
2. OK, Seriously, developing an app for Apple products ensures 100% compatibility because of its stringent requirements to comply standards of its OS.
Of late, Microsoft may also be requiring its Windows phone developers to follow similar practices. It is yet to be seen how successful Windows phones will be, for that matter Nokia.
It is no surprise that Android phones are selling more. A fundamental differentiation Google made was to engage/involve the developer community early on.
MP Divakar
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