The worldwide mo
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| Nokia N8 series |
bile phone market grew approximately 20 percent closing at 19.8 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2011, according to report released by the International Data Corporate, IDC.
This development according to the corporation, was fueled by high smartphone growth, especially in emerging markets, and gains made by market challengers.
The IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, said that vendors shipped 371.8 million units in first quarter of 2011 compared to 310.5 million units in the first quarter of 2010.
Smartphone growth worldwide, particularly in Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa, MEA, and Latin America, helped lift the overall market to a new first-quarter high. Increasingly, mobile phone makers and carriers are making smartphones affordable to a wider variety of people, which has helped drive the market to new heights.
It also said that Smartphone-specific vendors, such as HTC, continue to grow sales at a steady clip as a result of this trend.
Senior research analyst, Kevin Restivo, noted that “several notable vendors, including feature phone makers, outpaced the overall market, which contributed to share losses of some top suppliers. The growth of companies outside the top 5 vendors such as Micromax, TCL-Alcatel, Huawei, and Research In Motion, shows that the overall market is still very much ripe for share gains”.
Corroborating his position, senior research analyst with IDC's mobile phone technology and trends team, Ramon Llamas added that “at the same time, feature phones have represented the majority of mobile phone shipments, but still are under tremendous pressure from smartphones. This is even as popular quick-messaging devices, that is phones with QWERTY keyboard, once a bright spot within the feature phone market, appear to be losing steam as smartphones gain popularity.
However, the report said that it did not expect feature phones to disappear quickly as there was still strong demand for them across the globe.
How the regions fared in first quarter
* The Asia/Pacific market grew thanks in part to strong mobile phone shipments to Greater China despite the seasonally slow quarter. Smartphone shipment growth was exceptional despite some key product launch delays. In Japan, the market underperformed IDC's forecast due to the impact of the earthquake and tsunami. Japan's largest mobile operators ordered fewer phones than expected in March.
* In Western Europe, Android-based phones and iPhones helped grow the market in the seasonally slow quarter. New devices from HTC, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson sold well in most countries in the high-end tiers. Alcatel, Huawei, and ZTE Android devices helped drive mid-tier segment sales volume. Meanwhile, feature phone shipments receded as more smartphones hit the market. The CEMA markets performed well on a year-over-year basis despite civil unrest in some Gulf countries, such as Egypt, where sales were negatively impacted by the turbulence. Nokia and Research In Motion performed well in the regions overall.
* In the United States last quarter, Apple's iPhone and the LTE-enabled HTC Thunderbolt were two smartphones introduced at Verizon Wireless that helped keep the category front and center of the overall mobile phone market. Feature phones, including once popular quick messaging devices, continued to lose ground. Similarly, in Canada, the market grew thanks to smartphones. BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android devices were best sellers.
* The Latin America market growth continued last quarter as the gap between smartphones and feature phones narrowed. Smartphone shipments were aided by carriers, who are moving customers to 3G networks while vendors shipped more touchscreen and QWERTY models. New Android and Windows Phone devices were launched too, which helped drive smartphone growth. The average selling prices also declined in the region, thanks to aggressive expansion by Chinese vendors.
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