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Smartphone Sales Weaken In Q3 - Gartner

Techtree News Staff, Dec 08, 2007 1232 hrs IST

Nokia leads markets; RIM, Apple follow

Amidst the negative economic scenario, global smartphone market reached its weakest year-on-year growth in the third quarter of 2008, according to information technology research and advisory company Gartner. Worldwide smartphone sales to end-users totalled 36.5 million units in the third quarter, an 11.5% increase from the same period in 2007. Nokia maintained its numero uno position with 42.4% market share in the quarter, but for the first time it recorded a decline in sales of 3% year-on-year. Nokia sales were hit by the pressure from increased competition in the consumer smartphone market. However, sales of Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones increased 81.7% in the quarter as it continued to expand its presence within the consumer segment and refreshed its portfolio with new models and form factors. RIM sales will receive a boost from its new products in the fourth quarter, Gartner predicts. Apple regained its number 3 position in the global smartphone market and improved its market share to 12.9% in the quarter. Its sales increased more than four times compared with the same period in 2007 as a result of wider geographical availability, new business model and lower pricing. In 2009, application portfolios will become one of the key strategic considerations for smartphone market players and, if successful, they deliver an alternative revenue stream and will improve consumer stickiness, the report added. Just recently, Nokia witnessed the sharpest falls in the average retail price of the 5310 and 5610 music phones and the N81 8GB. The company made the steepest price reductions of up to 10% for selected music and media phones, while it made smaller cuts across the portfolio Nokia might've lost a bit of smartphone market share, as reported, but still has lot of plans in the pipeline. As per the detailed internal document, Nokia may be working on couple of smartphones to be released in the coming year. Apple too faced a lot of criticism when they announced that the iPhone 3G will cost above Rs. 30,000 in India. Though there was an indication that the iPhone's price will not be the same as its US counterpart, no one expected it to be so exorbitantly priced. To add insult to injury, other manufacturers also followed the same pricing strategy for their flagship phones. Needless to say, sales are pretty dismal.