Worldwide mobile sales to end users decreased 3% QoQ, but increased sequentially by 9 points to 428 million or 42.8 crore in Q3 2012 after falling consecutively in Q1 and Q2.
The quarterly Gartner report pegged Samsung sales at 9.79 crore handsets during July to September 2012, accounting for 22.9% of the worldwide market. The South Korean company had earlier toppled Nokia’s dominant market position in Q1 2012 and has widened the gap since then. Nokia slipped from No. 3 position in the 2nd quarter of 2012 to No. 7 in smartphone sales in the 3rd quarter of 2012.
Nokia’s market share has shrunk since the beginning of 2011. The Finish manufacturer commanded more than 25% market share and sold 10.75 crore mobile handsets during January to March 2011. The number declined to 8.31 crore in Q1 2012 and 8.23 crore in Q3 2012. The company’s market share currently stands at 19.2%.
Despite the drop, Nokia’s sales are seen as better than expected by Gartner analysts. The new Asha range is said to have driven sales and the launch of Lumia smartphone series may possibly stem Nokia’s decline in Q4 2012 and beyond.
According to Gartner’s report, sale of Apple’s iPhone accounted for 5.5% of the overall mobile market. Sales of 2.35 crore handsets in Q3 2012 are 36.2% higher than 1.72 crore in Q3 2011.
However the company has seen a sequential decline in sales since the beginning of 2012. Apple sold 3.31 crore handsets in the first quarter, 2.89 crore in the second and 2.35 crore in the third. Their market share has contracted from 7.9% in Q1 to 5.5% in Q3 2012.
Overall mobile sales in Q3 2012 may have declined slightly but smartphone sales increased 46.9% as compared to Q3 2011. Out of the 428 million or 42.8 crore units sold during July to September 2012, nearly 170 crore were smartphones. Apple and Samsung dominated the domain, grabbing a combined market share of 46.5%.
The spike in smartphone sales has not gone unnoticed. Lenovo recently launched android based smartphones in India. The Chinese company hopes to claw into this growing segment by introducing its devices in two of the world’s largest markets by population, China and India.
Mobile OS wise Market Share
Android based devices dominated in the smartphone segment and accounted for 72.4% of all the devices sold to end users. 1.22 crore devices were based on the android platform. iPhones being the only mobile handsets based on iOS made up 13.9% of the total smartphones sold. For Apple, this indicates a 39.3% drop in market share in the smartphone segment alone.
Commentators are expecting Apple to bounce back after the launch of its 6th generation mobile handset in September this year. "With iPhone 5 launching in more territories in the fourth quarter of 2012, including China, and the upcoming holiday season Gartner analysts expect Apple will have its traditionally strongest quarter" said the report.
Blackberry race sunk huh :P