Staggering achievement
Market researcher Strategy Analytics has announced Apple is now the fourth biggest mobile phone maker in the world, leapfrogging Chinese giant ZTE in the process.
While it remains as hot as ever, the mobile phone market has been around for quite a while, with many strong, established incumbents. So to become the fourth biggest player in this market, from a standing start, in a mere four years really is a staggering achievement by Apple.
What makes it even more impressive is that the figure concerns volumes of handsets sold, and the other players shift a lot of low-value handsets, while Apple sells exclusively the most expensive handsets on the market. It has done so be completely redefining the mobile phone, of course - turning it into a mini computer - and forcing all the incumbents to follow its lead.
Alex Spektor, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said: "Global handset shipments grew 17 percent annually to reach 350 million units in Q1 2011. Apple was a star performer during the quarter, as it shipped a record 18.6 million handsets, captured fourth place in global shipments and overtook rival ZTE."
Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, added: "It was a mixed quarter for the world's major handset vendors. Some brands outperformed, such as Apple and ZTE, while others underperformed, such as LG and Nokia. LG lost ground due to sluggish feature phone volumes, while Nokia continued to struggle in 3G smartphones and the important United States market."
The tables are below, but there's one glaring conflict between Strategy Analytics' figures and its conclusions. According to its own figures, Apple was already ahead of ZTE a year ago. We can only assume ZTE reclaimed fourth spot at some time in the intervening year.
Exhibit 1: Global Handset Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q1 2011
|
Global Handset Shipments (Millions of Units) |
Q1 '10 |
|
|
|
Q1 '11 |
|
Nokia |
107.8 |
|
|
|
108.5 |
|
Samsung |
64.3 |
68.9 |
|||
|
LG |
27.1 |
24.5 |
|||
|
Apple |
8.8 |
18.6 |
|||
|
ZTE |
8.6 |
15.2 |
|||
|
Others |
81.8 |
|
|
|
114.4 |
|
Total |
298.4 |
|
|
|
350.1 |
|
|
|||||
|
Global Handset Vendor Marketshare % |
Q1 '10 |
|
|
|
Q1 '11 |
|
Nokia |
36.1% |
31.0% |
|||
|
Samsung |
21.5% |
19.7% |
|||
|
LG |
9.1% |
7.0% |
|||
|
Apple |
2.9% |
5.3% |
|||
|
ZTE |
2.9% |
4.3% |
|||
|
Others |
27.4% |
|
|
|
32.7% |
|
Total |
100.0% |
|
|
|
100.0% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Global Handset Shipments Growth Year-over-Year |
19.6% |
|
|
|
17.3% |
Fellow researcher IDC confirmed Apple's fourth spot, but acknowledged that this wasn't the first quarter it had held it. Unlike Strategy Analytics, however, IDC had Apple well behind a year ago.
Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q1 2011 (Units in Millions)
|
Vendor |
1Q11 Shipments |
1Q11 Market Share |
1Q10 Shipment Volumes |
1Q10 Market Share |
1Q11/1Q10 Change |
|
Nokia |
108.5 |
29.2% |
107.8 |
34.7% |
0.6% |
|
Samsung |
70.0 |
18.8% |
64.3 |
20.7% |
8.9% |
|
LG Electronics |
24.5 |
6.6% |
27.1 |
8.7% |
-9.6% |
|
Apple |
18.7 |
5.0% |
8.7 |
2.8% |
114.9% |
|
ZTE |
15.1 |
4.1% |
10.4 |
3.3% |
45.2% |
|
Others |
135 |
36.3% |
92.2 |
29.7% |
46.4% |
|
Total |
371.8 |
100.0% |
310.5 |
100.0% |
19.8% |
Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, April 28, 2011
Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.
Nokia's struggles are well documented, but at least it's more or less treading water in overall unit shipments. The new struggler appears to be LG, which lacks the brand strength of Nokia and Apple, and is striving to differentiate its Android smartphones from the likes of Samsung and HTC. At the current rate it will be overtaken by Apple for third place before long.
