In The latest sales estimates made by the technology analysts at Gartner show that Nokia will not be able to hold on to its position as the leading cellphone maker in the world for long. In second quarter of the year Nokia was still the number one, but its worldwide market share slipped to 22.8 percent from 30.1 percent in the same quarter a year ago.
The main problem with Nokia is that it is unable to score in the smartphone space, where the sales are really soaring. According to Gartner, sales of smartphones were up 74 percent year-on-year and accounted for 25 percent of overall sales in the second quarter of 2011, up from 17 percent in the second quarter of 2010.
Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, said, Smartphone sales continued to rise at the expense of feature phones. Consumers in mature markets are choosing entry-level and midrange Android smartphones over feature phones, partly due to carriers and manufacturers promotions.
The performance of other major players in the cellphone business is as follows: Samsung at 16.3 percent, down from 17.8 percent, and LG at 5.7 percent, down from 8 percent. Gaining strength was Apple in the No. 4 slot with 4.6 percent, up from 2.4 percent, followed by ZTE with 3 percent, up from 1.8 percent. To no ones surprise, BlackBerry has slipped. Its market share is about 3 percent, down from 3.2 percent.
The Gartner report says, Google and Apple are the obvious winners in the smartphone ecosystem. The combined share of iOS and Android in the smartphone operating system (OS) market doubled to nearly 62 percent in the second quarter of 2011, up from just over 31 percent in the corresponding period of 2010.
Gartner analysts are of the opinion that these iOS and Android score primarily on the usability factor. They are filled with features that consumers enjoy. They offer their users access to a large number of apps.
Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner, says, We expect manufacturers and distributors to remain cautious about raising their stock levels in the second half of 2011, following the recent uncertainty on the world financial markets.
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