Apple beats Microsoft, Motorola in mobile phone sales

by Nancy Gohring

February 6, 2008 —

Even after being on the market for less than half a year, more iPhones sold
in the fourth quarter than Windows Mobile phones in the U.S., according to research
from Canalys.

Canalys researchers
estimate that the iPhone had 28 percent of the U.S. converged-device market
in the fourth quarter of 2007. Research
In Motion, with 41 percent, had the largest share of the market. Windows
Mobile phones had 21 percent share of devices sold in the quarter, falling into
third place behind Apple.

Worldwide, the lineup is a bit different. Nokia,
which typically dominates around the world but not in the U.S., sold 52.9 percent
of smart phones worldwide in the fourth quarter. RIM grew its share of converged-device
sales to 11.4 percent, up 121 percent over the same quarter in 2006. Despite
its limited availability around the world, Apple took third place with 6.5 percent
of the market, just barely squeaking ahead of struggling Motorola.

Apple may have stirred renewed interest in smart phones in the U.S. Converged-device
shipments, which include smart phones and wireless handhelds, grew 222 percent
in the U.S. during the quarter, according to Canalys.

The iPhone also did well in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, where
it became available in three countries partway into the quarter. In the region,
Apple came in fifth place behind Nokia, RIM, HTC
and Motorola, but beat
out Sony Ericsson,
Samsung and Palm,
Canalys said.

Apple's success as a new entrant is striking, but it will face challenges to
keep its momentum going, said Canalys analyst Pete Cunningham in a statement.
Historically, vendors with just one smart phone design, no matter how good,
struggle, he said. That means Apple will have to create and refresh a portfolio
of devices if it wants to increase its market share, he said.

Beyond hardware, competition is continuing in the mobile operating system market.
Worldwide Symbian, which credits most sales to Nokia, had 65 percent of the
market, followed by Microsoft at 12 percent and RIM at 11 percent, for the fourth
quarter, Canalys said.

Despite all the buzz around mobile Linux, total Linux phone shipments in 2007
were essentially flat compared to 2006, Canalys found. In Asia Pacific, Motorola
had a drop of 28 percent in its Linux smart phone shipments compared to 2006.

Phone makers are trying to attract customers to smart phones, which carry a
higher price tag than low-end feature phones. However, converged devices made
up just 10 percent of the global phone market in 2007, the researchers found.

IDG News Service