Figures from leading industry analyst Gartner show Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system has overtaken BlackBerry for the first time in worldwide smartphone sales.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Operating System
|
2Q13
Units
|
2Q13 Market Share (%)
|
2Q12
Units
|
2Q12 Market Share (%)
|
Android
|
177,898.2
|
79.0
|
98,664.0
|
64.2
|
iOS
|
31,899.7
|
14.2
|
28,935.0
|
18.8
|
Microsoft
|
7,407.6
|
3.3
|
4,039.1
|
2.6
|
BlackBerry
|
6,180.0
|
2.7
|
7,991.2
|
5.2
|
Bada
|
838.2
|
0.4
|
4,208.8
|
2.7
|
Symbian
|
630.8
|
0.3
|
9,071.5
|
5.9
|
Others
|
471.7
|
0.2
|
863.3
|
0.6
|
Total
|
225,326.2
|
100.0
|
153,772.9
|
100.0
|
Source: Gartner (August 2013)
The figures are interesting because they measure sales and not "shipments". They total the number of smartphones actually sold to customers and don't include devices en route or in warehouses.
Gartner says Windows Phone share in the second quarter of this year was 3.3%, up from 2.6% for the same quarter last year.
BlackBerry's share dropped from 5.2% to 2.7%.
The figures put Windows Phone firmly in third place in a market still dominated by Google's Android (79%) and Apple's iOS (14.2%).
According to Garnter this is mainly because of the success of Nokia's Lumia range of WP phones:
And figures for all phone sales - feature phones as well as smartphones - show Nokia in second place to Samsung:Mobile Phone Vendor PerspectiveSamsung: Samsung remained in the No. 1 position in the overall mobile phone market, with sales to end users growing 19 percent in the second quarter of 2013 (see Table 3). “We see demand in the premium smartphone market come mainly from the lower end of this segment in the $400-and-below ASP mark. It will be critical for Samsung to step up its game in the mid-tier and also be more aggressive in emerging markets. Innovation cannot be limited to the high end,” said Mr. Gupta.Nokia: Slowing demand of feature phone sales across many markets worldwide, and fierce competition in the smartphone segment, affected Nokia’s mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013. Nokia’s mobile phone sales totaled 61 million units, down from 83 million units a year ago. Nokia’s Lumia sales grew 112.7 percent in the second quarter of 2013 thanks to its expanded Lumia portfolio, which now include Lumia 520 and Lumia 720. “With the recent announcement of the Lumia 1020, Nokia has built a wide portfolio of devices at multiple price points, which should boost Lumia sales in the second half of 2013,” said Mr. Gupta. “However, Nokia is facing tough competition from Android devices, especially from regional and Chinese manufacturers which are more aggressive in terms of price points.”Apple: While sales continued to grow, the company faced a significant drop in the ASP of its smartphones. Despite the iPhone 5 being the most popular model, its ASP declined to the lowest figure registered by Apple since the iPhone's launch in 2007. The ASP reduction is due to strong sales of the iPhone 4, which is sold at a strongly discounted price. “While Apple’s ASP demonstrates the need for a new flagship model, it is risky for Apple to introduce a new lower-priced model too,” said Mr. Gupta. “Although the possible new lower-priced device may be priced similarly to the iPhone 4 at $300 to $400, the potential for cannibalization will be much greater than what is seen today with the iPhone 4. Despite being seen as the less expensive sibling of the flagship product, it would represent a new device with the hype of the marketing associated with it.”
Overall, Nokia's share has gone down, mainly because of drops in sales of feature phones and smartphones running the company's old Symbian operating system. But Lumia sales are rising.Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)
It was in February, 2011, that Nokia announced it was abandoning the Symbian operating system and forming an alliance with Microsoft to put Windows Phone on all its smartphones.
Nearly two and a half years later, both Windows Phone and Nokia are still struggling to make a major mark in worldwide smartphone sales, although year-on-year growth is encouraging.
(Source: Gartner)
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