Nokia (NOK) Stays Ahead Of Apple (AAPL) And RIM (RIMM) In Smartphone Market

It might appear that the only two companies in the race for first place in the global smart phone industry are Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM). That is not even close to being the case. The world’s largest handset company, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) holds a commanding lead in worldwide market shares. It dominance is substantial enough that it may be able to hold the top spot indefinitely.

New research from Strategy Analytics shows that smartphone sales rose 30% worldwide in the fourth quarter of last year to 53 million units compared with the same period a year ago.

Nokia’s unit sales rose to 20.8 million smartphones during the quarter, up 38% from Q4 2008. RIM shipped 10.7 million units and Apple 8. 7 million. The balance of the handset companies shipped a total of 12.8 million units, which means that companies like LG and Samsung sold millions of smartphones. The field is still crowded and highly competitive indicating that the struggle for sales will be based on new features and price. As Apple, RIM, and Nokia take business away from their competition, the temptation for those losing ground will be to sharply reduce what they charge to carriers for their handsets to pick up customers though companies like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Here is the Strategy Analytics breakdown of the market:
Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)      Q4 ’08       2008         Q4 ’09          2009
Nokia                                                                                                               15.1            60.5           20.8             67.8
RIM                                                                                                                   7.6              23.5          10.7              34.5
Apple                                                                                                               4.4               13.7            8.7               25.1
Others                                                                                                            13.7               53.4         12.8               46.4
Total                                                                                                               40.8             151.1          53.0            173.8
   
Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare %                                Q4 ’08            2008          Q4 ’09         2009
Nokia                                                                                                            37.0%           40.0%         39.2%         39.0%
RIM                                                                                                               18.6%             15.5%         20.2%        19.8%
Apple                                                                                                            10.8%              9.1%          16.4%         14.4%
Others                                                                                                           33.6%             35.4%        24.2%         26.7%
Total                                                                                                            100.0%         100.0%       100.0%    100.0%
   
Growth Year-over-Year                                                                        19%                    23%            30%            15%
Douglas A. McIntyre