Smartphone sales exploded in 2012
2013-01-25 22:09
Washington - Global smartphone sales soared in 2012,
taking a huge slice of a mobile market that was otherwise flat, survey data
showed on Friday.
Research firm Strategy Analytics said global smartphone
shipments grew 43% to 700 million units in 2012, with South Korea's Samsung
capturing more than 30% of the market and extending its lead over Apple
and others.
The report showed smartphones accounted for close to half
of the 1.6 billion mobiles sold in 2012. With all phones combined, the market
grew just 2%, according to the report highlighting a shift to smartphones.
The report showed Apple holding 19.4% of the global
smartphone market, trailing Samsung at 30.4%.
"Samsung and Apple together accounted for half of
all smartphones shipped worldwide in 2012," said Linda Sui at Strategy
Analytics.
"Large marketing budgets, extensive distribution
channels and attractive product portfolios have enabled Samsung and Apple to
tighten their grip on the smartphone industry."
The survey showed Nokia retained its position as the
third largest smartphone vendor for 2012 but that its market share fell sharply
from 16 to 5%.
ABI Research said in a separate report that 653 million
smartphones were shipped during the year, more than 40% of the 1.6 billion
handsets.
That survey showed Samsung with 31% of total smartphone
shipments to 21% for Apple.
But ABI said Apple appears to be facing tougher
competition.
"It is clear that the iPhone's hyper growth has
ended, and ABI Research believes that Apple's market share will peak in 2013 at
22%," said analyst Michael Morgan.
"Unless Apple is willing to trade iPhone margins for
low cost iPhone shipments, Apple's handset market share will become dependent
on customer loyalty."
- SAPA
