Even as total mobile phone sales fell 9.4% in the first quarter, mobile phone sales were up 12.7% in the same period, according to market researcher Gartner.
Worldwide mobile phone sales in the first quarter of 2009 are estimated at 269.1 million units, a 9.4% decrease from the first quarter of 2008.
In the same period, smartphone sales exceeded 36.4 million units, a 12.7% increase.
Gartner estimated that smartphone sales accounted for 13.5% of all mobile device sales in the first quarter of 2009, compared with 11% in the first quarter of 2008.
Apple, with its popular iPhone, was the star in the smartphone category, more than doubling its market share from 5.3% to 10.8%.
Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza said:
Much of the smartphone growth during the first quarter of 2009 was driven by touchscreen products, both in midtier and high-end devices. Touch for the sake of touch’ was enough of a driver in the midtier space, but tighter integration with applications and services around music, mobile e-mail, and Internet browsing made the difference at the high end of the market.
Total Mobile Phone Sales Down; Smartphone Sales Up added by SearchIndia.com on
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Nokia tops the list. One of the reasons is India, I think.
Btw, what is the feel on HTC? It is getting famous here.
Why O2 is not there in the list? is it negligible?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
HTC is not big here, going by ads.
In the U.S., most of the ads are by carriers not so much by phone manufacturers. Apple (iPhone), Research in Motion (Blackberry), and now Palm Pre are the phones with buzz here.
Regarding O2, we don’t think they have a presence here at all.
as per my understanding , O2 has a big presence in the UK and is a service provider.. not a phone-maker…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
True (mostly).
O2 offers a variety of phones including Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry, iPhone and a few O2 branded phones.
The phones branded under O2 are typically HTC. Even in the USA HTC phones are often sold under the carrier’s brand.