Smartphone Sales In Steep Upward Trend

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mobilepipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=59200081' target='_blank'>http://www.mobilepipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=59200081</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Smartphones started becoming a big marketplace hit toward the end of 2004 while handhelds showed only modest growth, according to a global study released Monday by U.K. market research firm Canalys. The study found that shipments of smartphones and so-called feature phones, which are similar to smartphones, increased slightly more than 100 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004 compared to the same quarter of 2003. By contrast, handhelds, including wireless handhelds, only saw a sales increase of five percent, the market study found."</i>

[Kris Kumar]

Was reading the same story on WSJ which emphasized Nokia's dominance in this area. Here are some points I thought were interesting..

- Symbian had 82% of the global smart-phone market in 2004, according to canalys.
- Nokia Corp. more than doubled its shipments of so-called smart phones to 12 million in 2004
- Nokia has put far more emphasis on the smart-phone market than rivals, such as Motorola and Samsung
- Nokia shipped 11.5 million smart phones in 2004, giving it a market share of 66%
- Nokia's smartphone shipment grew in 2004 by 121%, Motorola grew by 129% and palmOne grew by 280%.

I would have loved to see HTC on the list. They only had 'Others'. :-(

[skibee]

I hate how people feel the need to refer to Nokia as sort of the industry standard. A couple of years ago, they might have been the "leader," but nokia's fallen behind everyone else quite a bit.

[Mike Temporale]

Unfortunately, since they have the largest part of the market, they are considered the standard. They may not deserve the title, but until someone passes them, I don't see it changing.