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Smart phone market shows modest growth in Q3
- But Apple and RIM hit record volumes
Palo Alto, Singapore and Reading (UK) � Tuesday, 3 November 2009
For immediate release
- Global smart phone shipments grew 4% year on year, to 41.4
million units in Q3 2009
- Nokia, RIM, Apple and HTC command over 80% of the market
between them
- The APAC region shows the highest growth, at 26%, while EMEA
shrinks
- Proportion of smart phones with touchscreens reaches 45%, up
from 31% a year ago
- Over 80% of smart phones now ship with integrated GPS, more
than 75% have Wi-Fi built in
Canalys quarterly research highlights
Global smart phone shipments in Q3 2009 rose 4% year on year,
slower than the 13% annual growth seen last quarter, and held back
primarily by a 6% fall in EMEA. Shipments in North America were up
5%, but the APAC region saw a remarkable 26% rise after several flat
quarters.
Nokia retained its worldwide smart phone lead, with a share of
40% � slightly up on its year-ago position, but down almost 5%
sequentially. RIM held onto second place with a largely unchanged
(compared to Q2) share of 21%, while Apple reached a new high of 18%
share in third, significantly up from the 14% it held in Q2 as
supply of the iPhone 3GS improved in many countries. HTC retained
its fourth-place position with 5% share.
Looking at the market by operating system, Symbian�s overall lead
shrank as its share fell to 46%, ahead of RIM and Apple. Microsoft
remained in fourth with its share dipping slightly below last
quarter�s previous low point of 9%. The proportion of smart phones
running Google�s Android OS climbed to almost 4%, from just under 3%
in Q2.
�The smart phone market continues to hold up pretty well,� commented
Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham. �While growth has
undoubtedly slowed, it is still outperforming the overall mobile
phone market by some margin, as well as driving data revenue for
operators, and smart phones are ushering in a range of changes in
user behaviour when it comes to what people actually do on their
phones.�
Notable performers in Q3 included Apple and RIM, which both saw a
new record volume of devices shipped in the quarter. �Demand for the
iPhone 3GS far outstripped supply,� Cunningham added. �And we expect
to see continued growth for Apple, especially with new operators
coming on board, for example in the UK with the end of O2�s
exclusivity on the device. Our end-user research indicates growing
demand for touchscreen products and Apple�s satisfaction ratings in
our surveys are consistently the highest of any vendor. Furthermore,
the iPhone�s appeal is not limited to the consumer market, in our
October study of 600 European decision makers in medium and large
enterprises, more than 20% said they expect the iPhone to be the
dominant smart phone platform for running business applications in
their organisation within the next 3 to 5 years. In France, the
iPhone was ahead of Windows Mobile and RIM in this regard � a
remarkable result.�
Operator exclusivity is likely a barrier for many companies.
While Apple leads in France, Canalys� enterprise survey shows RIM in
pole position in the UK, and Windows Mobile holding a strong lead in
Germany. But Apple is already ahead of Microsoft in the minds of
those UK decision makers and wider availability can be expected to
translate to greater acceptance among business buyers.
�As well as enjoying a sustained strong position in the UK and
North America, RIM is seeing great growth in other parts of the
world and overcoming some difficult market conditions,� added Chris
Jones, principal analyst and VP. �Despite overall market contraction
in both Latin America and the Middle East, RIM saw strong growth in
both of these regions, of 54% and 214% respectively. This was aided
by demand for the Curve 8900 and the newly introduced Curve 8520,
and supported by specific in-country marketing campaigns and
promotions.�
Nokia remains the smart phone volume leader by some distance and
its share is stable year on year. In Q3 it suffered somewhat from
component shortages as suppliers reduced capacity due to the overall
market slowdown, but while its smart phone volume was down 10% in
EMEA year on year, in the APAC region 29% growth put it comfortably
ahead of the market average. �Much of the recent growth in the smart
phone market has come in the high tier, with products like the Nokia
N97, the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold,� observed Rachel Lashford,
MD of Canalys APAC. �Vendors are now beginning to drive smart phones
into a new segment, with products such as the Nokia 5230, targeting
consumers who are new to smart phones. We expect this to boost
growth and penetration of smart phones substantially over the next
two years. There will be increasing competition in this space �
T-Mobile, for example, is already offering the Huawei-built, Android
�Pulse� on pre-pay, and it is likely we will see more Symbian
devices being pushed at price-sensitive segments.�
The changing dynamics of the smart phone industry will be one of
many topics discussed at the Canalys Mobility Forum in London on
November 17. Full details are available at
www.canalysmobilityforum.com.
About the service
The shipment estimates discussed in this release come from the
market-leading Canalys
Smart Phone Analysis services. Canalys offers services looking
at the markets by country in Asia Pacific, North and Latin America
and EMEA, as well as providing global market overviews and
survey-based analysis of consumer and enterprise attitudes and
preferences toward mobile applications, devices and services.
About Canalys
Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data,
analysis and advice to the world�s leading technology vendors. It is
recognised as a key provider of continuous advisory services and
confidential custom projects for marketing managers and strategists
within blue-chip IT, telecoms, navigation and consumer electronics
companies. It has unrivalled expertise in routes to market for all
kinds of high technology products and services in the consumer, SMB
and large enterprise segments, and provides worldwide market data
and trends analysis.
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