Gartner has published the ?Market Share: Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 2Q12? report.
According to the key findings of the report, worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users stood at 419 million units in the second quarter of 2012. The global sales of mobile phones registered a decline of 2.3 percent decline from the second quarter of 2011. However, the smartphone sales accounted for 36.7 per cent of total mobile phone sales and it increased by 42.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2012.
Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst, Gartner, said, ?Demand slowed further in the second quarter of 2012. The challenging economic environment and users postponing upgrades to take advantage of high-profile device launches and promotions available later in the year slowed demand across markets. Demand of feature phones continued to decline, significantly weakening the overall mobile phone market.?
He further added, ?High-profile smartphone launches from key manufacturers such as the anticipated Apple iPhone 5, along with Chinese manufacturers pushing 3G and preparing for major device launches in the second half of 2012, will drive the smartphone market upward. However, feature phones will continue to see pressure.?
As per the report, for the second quarter of 2012, Samsung?s mobile phone sales increased by 29.5 percent from the second quarter of 2011. It managed to extend its lead over both Apple and Nokia on quarter on quarter basis. For the second quarter of 2012, Samsung?s growth in sales was driven by record sales of Galaxy smartphones. Currently, smartphones sales account for 50.4 per cent of all Samsung mobile devices sale. The report states that the demand for the new Galaxy S3 was particularly strong, with a reportedly 10 million units sold within two months of its launch. The Galaxy S3 was the best-selling Android product in the second quarter of 2012.
In the second quarter of 2012, consumer demand for the Apple iPhone weakened as sales fell 12.6 per cent in comparison to the first quarter of 2012, but grew 47.4 per cent year-on-year. The report says that depending on the exact launch date of the new iPhone, Apple might experience another weaker-than-usual quarter in the third quarter of 2012, while Apple will be ready to take advantage of the strong holiday sales in North America and Western Europe that have historically remained immune to economic pressure.
Gupta, said, ?Samsung and Apple continued to dominate the smartphone market, together taking about half the market share, and widening the gap to other manufacturers. No other smartphone vendors had share close to 10 per cent. In the race to be top smartphone manufacturer in 2012, Samsung has consistently increased its lead over Apple, and its operating system (OS) OS market share increased to one-and-a-half times that of Apple in the second quarter of 2012.?
Nokia?s mobile phone sales declined 14.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012. As per the report, Nokia is battling fiercely with white-box and new emerging device manufacturers to defend its feature phones sales. Nokia succeeded, to a certain extent, in winning feature phone market share as its sales grew quarter-on-quarter. While posting sequential growth in the feature phone market, Nokia?s Lumia devices continue to struggle to find a place in consumers’ minds as a replacement for Android.
Gupta states that the declining smartphone sales is worsening Nokia’s overall position, as it had already lost the No. 1 position to Samsung in the previous quarter and is facing reduced profitability due to continuous declining sales of premium smartphones.
In the smartphone operating system market, Android extended its lead with an increase of 20.7 percentage points in market share in the second quarter of 2012. While Apple’s iOS market share slightly grew year over year (0.6 percent), it declined 3.7 percentage points quarter on quarter, as users postponed their upgrade decisions in most markets ahead of the upcoming launch of the iPhone 5.
According to the report the arrival of the iPhone 5 should provide the greatest upgrade opportunity yet as the expected new design with a larger screen and likely other stylistic changes to the form factor will certainly make a strong case for iPhone 4 users to upgrade.
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