Worldwide smartphone sales grew 16 per cent in second quarter of 2008: Gartner

Mumbai: Worldwide sales of smartphone totalled 32.2 million units during the second quarter of 2008, marking a 15.7 per cent jump from the same quarter last year, says research firm Gartner, Inc.

Additionally, as a percentage of overall mobile device sales, smartphones' share remained stable at 11 per cent.

"Although global smartphone sales to end users [in the first half of 2008] reached 64 million units, up 22 per cent compared with the first half of 2007, sales increased at a lower rate than in 2007," said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner.

"The current economic environment continues to negatively impact the market, limiting consumer spending and replacement purchases in general. In addition, smartphone sales slowed down as a result of new compelling touch technology mainly available on enhanced phones (based on proprietary operating systems) rather than smartphones."

"Wider availability of new touch smartphone models together with the global introduction of the iPhone 3G will help sales of smartphones return to stronger growth in the third quarter of 2008," Cozza said.

Regionally significant
On a regional level, the North American market remained among the fastest-growing markets in the second quarter of 2008 with an increase of 78.7 per cent year over year. The region also accounted for almost 25 per cent of the global smartphone sales to end users.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa exhibited 21 per cent growth year over year; Western Europe drove much of the growth in the region with a 29.3 per cent increase.

Markets of Asia/Pacific and Japan declined 4.8 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.

Nokia under pressure
Although Nokia held the top position with a 47.5 per cent market share in the second quarter of 2008, its year-over-year growth was about half of the market average (see Table 1).

Nokia faced increased competition in the consumer smartphone market, which had an impact on its year-on-year performance.

Table 1
Worldwide: Preliminary Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor, 2Q08 (Units)

Company	2Q08 Sales	2Q08 Market Share (%)	2Q07 Sales	2Q07 Market Share (%)	2Q08- 2Q07 Growth (%)
Nokia	15,297,900	47.5	14,151,689	50.8	8.1
Research In Motion	5,594,159	17.4	2,471,200	8.9	126.4
HTC	1,330,825	4.1	605,900	2.2	119.6
Sharp	1,328,090	4.1	2,275,401	8.2	-41.6
Fujitsu	1,071,490	3.3	877,955	3.2	22.0
Others	7,598,711	23.6	7,472,441	26.8	1.7
Total	32,221,175	100.0	27,854,586	100.0	15.7

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 (August 2008)

"To stay competitive, Nokia will need to introduce more design variations amongst its Nseries models and keep innovating. The expected introduction of a touch-screen smartphone in the second half of 2008 will test the company's capability to show differentiation and innovation," Cozza added.

RIM doing well
Research In Motion (RIM) recorded another strong quarter. The vendor's smartphone sales were up 126 per cent year over year, and the company's market share nearly doubled compared with the second quarter of 2007.

RIM continued to execute well at the consumer level, increasing its global market reach. In the second half of the year, the company is expected to launch smartphones based on new form factors, which are necessary to keep pace with the competition at the consumer level.

HTC at Number 3
HTC gained the number three position during the second quarter of 2008, moving up from the number seven ranking in the first quarter.

HTC's sales more than doubled year over year, but its overall share was flat at four per cent compared with the first quarter of 2008. HTC continued to perform well during the second quarter primarily thanks to sales of its Touch product line.

Apple slowing down? For how long?
In the second quarter of 2008, Apple's share of global smartphone sales to end users decreased to 2.8 per cent from 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2008.

The significant drop in sales was mainly due to the company having to clean the channel of first-generation iPhone units before the arrival of the iPhone 3G in June. Apple's sales figure in the second quarter of 2008 accounted for sales of inventory carried over from the first quarter of 2008.

Gartner analysts expect iPhone sales to grow significantly in the second half of 2008, enabling the company to regain a top position in the global smartphone vendor rankings.

Symbian the preferred operating system
For the smartphone operating system market, Symbian commanded 57 per cent of the global sales to end users in the second quarter of 2008 compared with 66 per cent in the same period last year (see Table 2).

Symbian's performance was affected by a 26 per cent drop in unit sales in Japan and Symbian's licensee Mitsubishi exiting the market. Overall, Symbian's share declined as a result of a more competitive and fragmented mobile operating system market.

Table 2
Worldwide: Preliminary Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System, 2Q08 (Units)

Company	2Q08 Sales	2Q08 Market Share (%)	2Q07 Sales	2Q07 Market Share (%)	2Q08- 2Q07 Growth (%)
Symbian	18,405,057	57.1	18,273,255	65.6	0.7
Research In Motion	5,594,159	17.4	2,471,200	8.9	126.4
Microsoft Windows Mobile	3,873,622	12.0	3,212,222	11.5	20.6
Linux	2,359,245	7.3	2,816,490	10.1	-16.2
Mac OS X	892,503	2.8	270,000	1.0	230.6
Palm OS	743,910	2.3	461,918	1.7	61.0
Others	352,679	1.1	349,501	1.3	0.9
Total	32,221,175	100.0	27,854,586	100.0	15.7

Note: The "Others" category includes sales of Sharp Sidekick devices based on the Danger platform.
Source: Gartner (August 2008)

Microsoft OS essentially preferred by North America
Sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices increased 20.6 per cent year over year, with Microsoft's share remaining flat at 12 per cent in the second quarter of 2008.

Microsoft's strongest region in unit terms was North America, followed by Western Europe. Both regions combined accounted for 74 per cent of global Windows Mobile sales.