India registers triple-digit smart phone growth

A Canalys report revealed that Asia Pacific (APAC) became the largest smart phone market region, with y-o-y growth of 98 per cent to 3.73 crore units, putting it ahead of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for the first time since Q3 2007. On a country basis, mainland China, South Korea, and India delivered strong volumes and registered triple-digit growth.

Also, according to Canalys' worldwide country-level smart phone market data for Q1 2011, Android led the market for the second quarter running, and, with 3.57 crore units shipped, increased its share to 35 per cent.

Overall, worldwide smart phone shipments grew 83 per cent to 10.10 crore units. Though its market share shrank from 39 per cent a year ago to 24 per cent in Q1 2011, Nokia held onto its worldwide leadership position with 2.42 crore units shipped—a 13 per cent year-on-year rise—despite the current realignment of its platform strategy, staying ahead of RIM in EMEA and Apple in APAC. APAC became the largest region for Nokia, accounting for 53 per cent of its overall shipments, overtaking EMEA by more than 30 lakh units.

'Nokia is under considerable strain in the smart phone market as it transitions strategy, platforms, and people,' says Pete Cunningham, principal analyst at Canalys. 'Its worldwide reach, however, should never be underestimated. Canalys' country-level data shows that the vendor remains number one in 28 countries, including mainland China, where it grew 79 per cent to 89 lakh units, thanks in part to Chinese New Year shipments.'

At a platform level, Android's continued dominance was boosted by good performances by a number of key vendors. 'HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson drove Android shipments in the first quarter, with each vendor shipping well over 3 million [30 lakh] devices,' says Cunningham. 'Samsung also shipped nearly 3.5 million [35 lakh] bada operating system-based smart phones, outperforming total shipments of Windows Phone devices by more than a million units.'

'Samsung's own operating system development, combined with the branding and investment in its Wave smart phones at mid-tier prices, has led to good uptake in developed markets, such as France, the UK, and Germany,' continues Cunningham. 'This achievement shows that there is still room for multiple operating systems, and that vendors can benefit from maintaining control of device development to hit the right markets and price points.'

Nokia, Apple, RIM, Samsung and HTC were the top five global smart phone vendors, as in Q4 2010. Apple continued to make market share gains, reaching 19 per cent. RIM's share, however, dropped in Q1, as its portfolio awaited a refresh and the vendor focused on the PlayBook launch. Overtaking Motorola, LG moved into sixth place, with its Optimus series of Android smart phones doing well in all regions.