The Apple iPhone has taken the lead from RIM, becoming the US’ most popular smartphone, with a 26pc share, new research suggests. Nokia still leads worldwide, with a 33pc share.
In the third quarter of 2010, the worldwide smartphone market grew by 95pc from last year, to 80.9 million shipped units.
According to Canalys research, the iPhone has beaten RIM offerings in the market, making it the leading smartphone in the US market.
Worldwide, Nokia was seen as the leader of the smartphone market, with a total 33pc share. With a 17pc share, Apple was ahead of RIM worldwide again by 2pc.
In terms of the share of operating systems however, Android took the lead in the US, with a 44pc share.
Globally, Android was up a huge 1,309pc year-on-year from last year, forming a quarter of the marketshare.
“With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world,” said Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham.
“Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand. It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help to entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant mobile content and application ecosystem.”
Symbian tops for smartphone OS
Symbian was the leading smartphone OS worldwide, however. While the OS has had its fair share of difficulties, its lead is attributed to Nokia’s dominance in the global market and Japanese support by Fujitsu and Sharp.
“There has been a lot of speculation about whether Nokia will adopt another platform, but that looks highly unlikely. Its current strategy is clear and makes sense,” said Cunningham.
“But Nokia still lacks a truly high-end product to compete against the iPhone and leading Android devices.
“The market is moving quickly and Nokia urgently needs to deliver an exciting and genuinely differentiated, high-end flagship MeeGo device early next year to regain its reputation as an innovative technology leader, and to retain its leadership position in the market,” he said.
Microsoft’s mobile OS accounted for 3pc of the share worldwide, though Canalys has said this outlook looks “significantly improved” thanks to Windows Phone 7.
The IDC recently also found that Apple beat out RIM in the global smartphone market, becoming one of the top 5 suppliers.
