Apple became top smartphone maker worldwide in Q2 - IDC

Apple Inc. became the world's largest smartphone maker in the second quarter, a recent survey said, as global shipments of all smartphones rose more than 65% from the same time a year earlier.
Apple's iPhone accounted for more than 19% of the 106.5 million smartphones shipped around the world, International Data Corp. said Thursday. Apple beat out the once-leading Nokia Corp., which garnered 15.7% of the market share in the survey, dropping to third place behind Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which represented 16.2% of the market.
Nokia's relatively poor showing comes as the company struggles to regain prominence as its Symbian operating system has fallen out of favor with customers who have flocked to the iPhone and other smartphones powered by Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
The changes in market share come as sales of smartphones around the world continue to grow. IDC estimates world-wide smartphone shipments for this year will expand 55% over 2010, as electronics giants continue to release faster and more capable devices. While Apple and Samsung have surged into the lead, IDC warned that the competition isn't far behind."There is no runaway leader in the market," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement."There could easily be further Top 5 vendor changes to come."
Much of Apple's growth has been the result of further carrier agreements and wider availability, IDC said. However, a recent survey of more than 30,000 U.S. mobile phone subscribers by comScore Inc. found Apple to be the fourth-largest handset manufacturer in the country, behind Samsung, LG Electronics Inc. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.
Google's Android, which powers the smartphones from each of those top three, now represents more than 40% of the market, comScore added. Apple, by comparison, controls nearly 27% of the market.
While the smartphone market continues to grow, each of the research firms said Research In Motion Ltd. had fallen further behind its competition, ranking fourth in world-wide shipments according to IDC, and fifth in the U.S. according to comScore. "The company has released only a few new models so far this year," IDC said."That has allowed its competitors to grab mindshare and market share with multiple new models.”

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