Apple’s share of the Smartphone market grew 78 percent during the past 12 months while LG, Samsung and Nokia lost market share according to new data issued by research group IDC.Globally, Apple has 5 percent share of the mobile phone market, taking into account cheap pre-paid phones as well as Smartphones claims IDC, who also said that in the first quarter of 2011 the worldwide mobile phone market grew 19.8 percent year over year fuelled by high smartphone growth. Vendors shipped 371.8 million units in 1Q11 compared to 310.5 million units in the first quarter of 2010.
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Smartphone growth worldwide, particularly in Asia/Pacific which includes Australia, helped lift the overall market to a new first-quarter high. Increasingly, mobile phone makers and carriers are making smartphones affordable to a wider variety of people, which has helped drive the market to new heights. Smartphone-specific vendors, such as HTC, continue to grow sales at a steady clip as a result of this trend.
Of the five top vendors IDC said that Nokia will continue to struggle until their new Windows strategy is fully realised. They claimed that the Finnish company will have to rely on its current platforms to compete in the market.
They said that Samsung, having posted a record Q1 shipment volume, further closed the gap against market leader Nokia and extended its lead ahead of third place vendor LG Electronics. Although feature phones comprised the majority of its shipments, smartphones represented a greater share from a year ago, nearly a fifth of its total volumes. Samsung appears well poised to reach its goal of 50 million smartphones shipped this year, as new models, including the Galaxy S II, 4G smartphones, and more mass-market smartphones are expected to reach the market later on.
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LG unit shipments declined on a year-over-year basis for the third straight quarter. The phone shipment drop off was most noticeable in Europe where shipments on a combined basis declined. The company hopes to deliver a better second quarter performance with the introduction of products such as the Revolution.
