Q3 2011 smartphone market share

Tomi Ahonen breaks down the numbers by vendor. Samsung and Apple are kicking ass. Samsung's strategy of adopting Android and copying Apple has paid off handsomely, at least in terms of market share. 

Yesterday I mocked the good folks at Google for crafting a new Nexus commercial that looked like it was created by the line director of an Apple ad. I can mock them for a lack of creativity or self-respect, but no doubt it will work. Now if they could somehow actually copy the build quality, usability, functionality and supply chain advantages Apple currently holds, that would be a hell of a trick! 

Anyway, Tomi's numbers:

For those who just want to see the table without the analysis, here is the big picture and top 10 smartphone manufacturer brands for Q3 or the quarter from July to September:

1 (2)     Samsung       25.1 Million    21%  (17%)

2 (1)     Apple            17.1 Million    15%   (19%)

3 (3)     Nokia            16.8 Million    14%   (16%)

4 (5)     HTC              13.2 Million    11%   (11%)

5 (4)     RIM              10.6 Million      9%   (12%)

6 (7)     SonyEricsson  7.6 Million      7%   ( 5%)

7 (6)     LG                  5.9 Million      5%   ( 5%)

8 (8)     Motorola          4.8 Million      4%   ( 4%)

9 (9)     Huawei            4.4 Million      4%   ( 4%)

10 (10)  ZTE                3.1 Million      3%   ( 3%)

(others                       9.1 Million)

TOTAL                    117.7 Million

[Now by platform]

1. (1.)    Android (Google)                   56.4 Million    48% (40%)

2. (3.)    Symbian (Nokia)                   18.1 Million    15% (17%)

3. (2.)    iOS (Apple)                           17.1 Million     15% (19%)

4. (4.)    Blackberry OS                      10.7 Million       9% (12%)

5. (5.)    bada (Samsung)                     2.6 Million       2%  ( 2%)

6. (7.)    Windows Phone 7 (Microsoft)  1.3 Million       1%  ( 1%)

7. (6.)    Windows Mobile (Microsoft)     0.4 Million       0%  ( 1%)

(others 11.1 Million)

TOTAL        117.7 Million

Note the others includes all other smartphone operating systems including Palm/WebOS, Maemo, MeeGo, LiMo (Linux Mobile) and a multitude of unlicenced variants of Android. No other OS reaches 1%.

Now, back to Brian:

Firstly, please don't suggest that OMG ANDROID WILL BECOME THE STANDARD AND APPLE WILL DIE JUST AS BEFORE WHEN IT WAS WINDOWS VS MAC. Aside from the fact that you're using bad history and do not understand the dynamics of the smartphone market, which is not the same as the PC market, remember this:

Apple (iOS) is making *the vast chunk* of the smartphone money. Back in the days of the Microsoft horror was Microsoft *losing* money on most of its sales of Windows?

Thank you. Now please shut the hell up about PCs = smartphones all over again.

Except, OMG look at these numbers!

How is it even possible for Symbian to have fallen so far so fast? Look, I realize Tomi and others will say that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop poisoned the market for Symbian devices (maybe deliberately so), but I think they are missing the larger picture. Even if Elop deliberately wanted Symbian to fall the way it has nothing he could do, short of literally stop selling them, could possibly lead to the platform's utter global collapse. That was going to happen. Period. Maybe if you work for the company or own $NOK that is cold comfort. Still, if Elop spent most of his time and effort and did his very best to support Symbian, he would have extended its life, as a viable platform, a few months, at best. iPhone at the top end, and Android at the top and everywhere else, meant the death of Symbian.

Elop's strategy to abandon Symbian, if poorly executed, was absolutely correct.

Likewise, thought not revealed in Tomi's numbers, is the fact that it is damn hard to make money selling Android devices. Samsung, as has been noted elsewhere, does quite well at it, but almost no one else. Certainly, not the kind of money that Nokia wants and not the kind of money Nokia needs to continue being, well, Nokia. Whether or not they succeed as a Windows Phone shop remains to be seen. Looking at those Windows numbers, I suppose there's comfort in knowing that the sky is the limit. I have a feeling that I could create a homebrew smartphone platform at this point and sell as many devices as there are Windows Phones.

Also, Blackberry fell below 10%. This probably means something beyond just the pain of market contraction. None of it good. At less than 10%, can they attract developers? Get enough love from carriers? Market themselves well enough to be heard over the constant iPhone and Android messages? These are dark days for RIM. I would still rather control my own platform then be part of Android, living off Google's crumbs. Blackberry may have no other choice, however, as it appears they are no longer in total control of their own destiny.