Research firm Canalys, UK, recently published its final fourth quarter 2010 global country-level smart phone market data, which reportedly says that Google's Android has become the leading platform. Shipments of Android-based smart phones reached 32.9 million, while devices running Nokia's Symbian platform trailed slightly at 31.0 million worldwide.
However, Nokia did retain its position as the leading global smart phone vendor, with a share of 28 percent. The fourth quarter also saw the worldwide smart phone market continue to soar, with shipments of 101.2 million units representing year-on-year growth of 89 percent. The final quarter took shipments for the year to fractionally below 300 million units, with an annual growth rate of 80 percent over 2009.
In the fourth quarter of 2010, volumes of Google OS-based smart phones (Android, OMS and Tapas) were again boosted by strong performances from a number of vendors, notably LG, Samsung, Acer and HTC. Their volumes across these platforms grew 4,127 percent, 1,474 percent, 709 percent and 371 percent respectively year-on-year. HTC and Samsung together accounted for nearly 45 percent of Google OS-based handset shipments.
At a regional level, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remained the largest market, with shipments totalling 38.8 million and a year-on-year growth rate of 90 percent. Nokia continued to lead in EMEA and Asia Pacific, but in 2010 it was overtaken by RIM in Latin America, which shipped over a million more units than Nokia in the fourth quarter of 2010. The vendor was particularly helped by the popularity of its mid-range smart phones, such as its Curve family of devices.
The US continued its reign as the largest country market in terms of shipments, at more than double the size of the Chinese smart phone market. RIM recaptured first place from Apple, as the latter experienced its usual US seasonal dip, and RIM benefited from the first full quarter of shipments for the BlackBerry Torch. HTC successfully maintained its third-place ranking in the US for the third consecutive quarter, driven by its speed to market with the latest Android updates and new Windows Phone 7 devices.
Android was by far the largest smart phone platform in the US market in the fourth quarter of 2010, with shipments of 12.1 million units - nearly three times those of RIM's BlackBerry devices. Windows Phone 7 devices appeared too late in the quarter to take full advantage of holiday season purchasing. As a result, Microsoft lost share in the US, from 8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 5 percent in the corresponding 2010 quarter.
Analysis of the published country-level data shows that, around the world, the strength of smart phone performances remained diverse. Under pressure from Huawei and Samsung in particular, Nokia's share in China slipped to 56 percent, down from 76 percent a year ago, despite growing its volume in the country by over 70 percent in the same period.
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