Worldwide shipments of smart mobile devices are up a massive 105pc year on year, new second-quarter figures released by Canalys show.
According to estimates from the UK research house, 12,185,600 units were shipped during April, May and June 2005, a considerable jump on the 5,933,330 figure recorded for the same period last year.
The smart mobile device category comprises smart phones, handhelds and wireless handheld devices. Within that broad category, some fared better than others during Q2, Canalys said. Converged devices were up 186pc but handheld shipments fell by 14pc.
NokiaÅfs share of the market stands at 55pc having shipped 6,695,800 smart phones, followed by Palm in second place with 8.7pc share (1,057,420 units). Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM), which makes the popular BlackBerry, shipped 897,280 converged devices _ equivalent to 7.4pc of the overall market. The company is on target for its first million-unit quarter, Canalys noted.
The top three manufacturers remain unchanged from the first quarter although some changes have taken place a level below that. A strong performance by Motorola, especially in China and Japan, helped it to fourth place marginally ahead of Fujitsu, which itself had a strong Q2 thanks to the mid-quarter launch of its new FOMA F901iS smart phone.
Market leader Nokia saw its smart phone shipments increase at more than twice the average market rate, Canalys reported. Demand was spread across newer models such as the 3G Nokia 6680 as well as the 7610. There was also growth for the more enterprise-orientated 9500 Communicator and 9300 smart phone.
Palm still leads the handheld segment, with 31pc market share, but Canalys found that the companyÅfs handheld shipments declined 32pc year on year, resulting in a 1pc unit decline overall. In contrast to the boom in converged smart mobile devices such as smart phones and wireless handhelds, the market for handhelds fell 14pc year on year. Hewlett-Packard, which hold second place in this category, also saw a fall of 21pc and is feeling pressure in the retail sector in North America. Handheld shipments fell in most regions, with North America down by 36pc, Latin America falling by 12pc and Asia-Pacific recording a 21pc drop.
By Gordon Smith
