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Any set of figures which show Apple gaining in the smartphone race (up
300% year on year) are bound to be heavily commented on in the
USA-dominated tech media, and Gartner's Q4 (and general 2008) worldwide sales figures
are no exception. Definitely worth a skim though. Symbian OS still
dominates the world, powering 52% of the world's smartphones, but the
lead is down 6% from the previous year. RIM continues to rise with the
Blackberry OS and the iPhone is on the up and up too. In terms of
manufacturers, Nokia sold 44% of all smartphones last year, roughly the
same (60 million) as in 2007, with RIM and Apple clocking up 16 and 8
million respectively. The leading Windows mobile handset maker, HTC,
was a distant worldwide fourth, with only 4 million.
So, here is it:
Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Reached Its Lowest Growth Rate With 3.7 Per Cent Increase in Fourth Quarter of 2008
Samsung Entered Top Five for the First Time Egham, UK,
March 11,
2009
—
In
the fourth quarter of 2008, worldwide sales of smartphones to end users
reached 38.1 million units, an increase of 3.7 per cent on the fourth
quarter of 2007, according to Gartner, Inc. Global sales of smartphones
for 2008 reached 139.3 million devices, up 13.9 per cent compared with
2007.
“After a strong third quarter with new product introductions,
sequential growth slowed down again in the fourth quarter as fewer
compelling new products and the worsened economic climate continued to
make data plans associated with smartphones out of reach for most
consumers,“ said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner. “In
general in 2008, the focus from vendors and operators on increasing
their smartphone portfolios remained very strong. Samsung, RIM, HTC and
Apple saw their volumes and share increase during 2008 (see Table 2),
thanks to their ability to offer compelling device experiences and
touch interfaces.”
As a proportion of all mobile device sales, smartphones remained stable
at 12 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, from 11 per cent in the
fourth quarter of 2007. Samsung entered the top five vendors ranking
for the first time (see Table 1), replacing Sharp. RIM recorded an
increase in sales both sequentially and year-over-year, while Nokia's
volumes continued to fall.
Table 1
Worldwide: Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor, 4Q08 (Thousands of Units)
|
|
|
|
Company
|
4Q08 Sales
|
Market Share 4Q08 (%)
|
4Q07 Sales
|
Market Share 4Q07 (%)
|
4Q07-4Q08 Growth (%)
|
|
Nokia
|
15,561.7
|
40.8
|
18,703.3
|
50.9
|
-16.8
|
|
Research In Motion
|
7,442.6
|
19.5
|
4,024.7
|
10.9
|
84.9
|
|
Apple
|
4,079.4
|
10.7
|
1,928.3
|
5.2
|
111.6
|
|
HTC
|
1,631.7
|
4.3
|
1,361.1
|
3.7
|
19.9
|
|
Samsung
|
1,598.2
|
4.2
|
671.5
|
1.8
|
138.0
|
|
Others
|
7,829.7
|
20.5
|
10,077.3
|
27.4
|
-22.3
|
|
Total
|
38,143.3
|
100.0
|
36,766.1
|
100.0
|
3.7
|
Note: Under the name HTC, Gartner counts only the company's
own-branded devices. The devices that HTC designs for mobile operators
are shown separately under the operators' names in these statistics.
Source: Gartner (March 2009)
Nokia maintained its No. 1 position, but in the
fourth quarter of 2008 its smartphone sales declined by 16.8 per cent
year-on-year. This also contributed to the overall weakness of the
global smartphone segment in 4Q08, as the company commanded 40.8 per
cent of the market. Nokia’s entry-level smartphone range will continue
to offer good value for the money, but Nokia remains more exposed to
pressure from competition in the higher end of the consumer smartphone
market as the Nseries loses its appeal.
Apple’s initial sell-through dropped significantly as sales fell during
the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, Apple maintained its third position
in the global rankings. Apple built an inventory of about two million
iPhone units in the third quarter of 2008 which did not reduce
significantly in the fourth quarter. With Apple’s sequential decline,
volumes were driven by new product introductions such as the RIM Storm,
the T-Mobile G1 (the first product based on Google’s Android platform),
and strong performance from Samsung’s touchscreen products. HTC had a
very strong quarter with record sales of its HTC-branded devices and
operator-branded devices.
Table 2
Worldwide: Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor, 2008 (Thousands of Units)
|
Company
|
2008 Sales
|
Market Share
2008 (%)
|
2007 Sales
|
Market Share 2007 (%)
|
Growth
2007-2008 (%)
|
|
Nokia
|
60,920.5
|
43.7
|
60,465.0
|
49.4
|
0.8
|
|
Research In Motion
|
23,149.0
|
16.6
|
11,767.7
|
9.6
|
96.7
|
|
Apple
|
11,417.5
|
8.2
|
3,302.6
|
2.7
|
245.7
|
|
HTC
|
5,895.4
|
4.2
|
3,718.5
|
3.0
|
58.5
|
|
Sharp
|
5,234.2
|
3.8
|
6,885.3
|
5.6
|
-24.0
|
|
Others
|
32,671.4
|
23.5
|
36,176.6
|
29.6
|
-9.7
|
|
Total
|
139,287.9
|
100.0
|
122,315.6
|
100.0
|
13.9
|
Note: For HTC we only count the company's own-branded devices. The
devices that HTC designs and which have the operator's brand are given
separately under the operator’s name in our statistics.
Source: Gartner (March 2009)
In the smartphone operating system (OS) market,
Symbian's share of the global market decreased to 47.1 per cent in the
fourth quarter of 2008, down from its 2007 share of 62.3 per cent (see
Table 3). Pressure from new platforms entering the consumer space, the
continued decline of Nokia's smartphone sales and the weakness of the
Japanese mobile device market have negatively affected Symbian's share.
Meanwhile, RIM successfully grew its year-on-year share of the global
smartphone market to 19.5 per cent from 10.9 per cent. Gartner estimated that Android smartphones accounted for 20 per cent of total Linux sales in the fourth quarter of 2008.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, Microsoft's share of the global
smartphone market improved sequentially, with unit sales up 16 per cent
over 3Q08. This was mainly driven by the popularity of Samsung Omnia
and touchscreen products from HTC. Sales of Linux-based smartphones
were up by 19 per cent year-over-year, mainly through Android-based
smartphones being available through T-Mobile during the fourth quarter
of 2008.
Table 3
Worldwide: Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System, 4Q08 (Thousands of Units)
|
Company
|
4Q08 Sales
|
Market Share
4Q08 (%)
|
4Q07 Sales
|
Market Share 4Q07 (%)
|
Growth
4Q07-4Q08 (%)
|
|
Symbian
|
17,949.1
|
47.1
|
22,902.5
|
62.3
|
-21.6
|
|
Research In Motion
|
7,442.6
|
19.5
|
4,024.7
|
10.9
|
84.9
|
|
Microsoft Windows Mobile
|
4,713.9
|
12.4
|
4,374.4
|
11.9
|
7.8
|
|
Mac OS X
|
4,079.4
|
10.7
|
1,928.3
|
5.2
|
111.6
|
|
Linux
|
3,194.9
|
8.4
|
2,675.9
|
7.3
|
19.4
|
|
Palm OS
|
326.5
|
0.9
|
449.1
|
1.2
|
-27.3
|
|
Other OSs
|
436.9
|
1.1
|
411.3
|
1.1
|
6.2
|
|
Total
|
38,143.3
|
100.0
|
36,766.1
|
100.0
|
3.7
|
Note: The "Other OSs" category includes sales of Sharp Sidekick devices based on the Danger platform.
Source: Gartner (March 2009)
Table 4
Worldwide: Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System, 2008 (Thousands of Units)
|
Company
|
2008 Sales
|
Market Share
2008 (%)
|
2007 Sales
|
Market Share 2007 (%)
|
Growth
2007-2008 (%)
|
|
Symbian
|
72,933.5
|
52.4
|
77,684.0
|
63.5
|
-6.1
|
|
Research In Motion
|
23,149.0
|
16.6
|
11,767.7
|
9.6
|
96.7
|
|
Microsoft Windows Mobile
|
16,498.1
|
11.8
|
14,698.0
|
12.0
|
12.2
|
|
Mac OS X
|
11,417.5
|
8.2
|
3,302.6
|
2.7
|
245.7
|
|
Linux
|
11,262.9
|
8.1
|
11,756.7
|
9.6
|
-4.2
|
|
Palm OS
|
2,507.2
|
1.8
|
1,762.7
|
1.4
|
42.2
|
|
Other OSs
|
1,519.7
|
1.1
|
1,344.0
|
1.1
|
13.1
|
|
Total
|
139,287.9
|
100.0
|
122,315.6
|
100.0
|
13.9 |
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