Smartphones battle it out

Gartner has reported that global sales of smartphones slowed to their lowest-ever growth level in the fourth quarter of 2008, with an increase of only 3.7% from the same quarter in 2007.

The research firm says that, while total global sales for 2008 were up 13.9% from 2007, growth is slowing down significantly. Gartner also states smartphone sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were up by only 2% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"After a strong third quarter with new product introductions, sequential growth slowed down again in the fourth quarter as fewer compelling new products and the worsened economic climate continued to make data plans associated with smartphones out of reach for most consumers," says Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.

The research firm notes that smartphones made up 12% of mobile device sales in 2008 - a 1% increase from the 11% reported in 2007. Samsung also entered the top five vendors, replacing Sharp, while Research In Motion (RIM) recorded an increase in sales both sequentially and year-over-year, while Nokia's volumes continued to fall, says Gartner.

The research firm says the chosen focus by manufacturers paid off. “In general, in 2008, the focus from vendors and operators on increasing their smartphone portfolios remained very strong. Samsung, RIM, HTC and Apple saw their volumes and share increase during 2008 thanks to their ability to offer compelling device experiences and touch interfaces."

Nokia maintained its number one position, despite a 16.8% sales decline experienced in the fourth quarter of 2008 - a trend which contributed to the overall weakness of the global smartphone segment, says Gartner.

“Despite commanding 40% of the global smartphone market, Nokia remains more exposed to pressure from competition in the higher end of the consumer smartphone market as the N-series loses its appeal.”

Gartner says Apple maintained third position, despite reported declines in sales - and its strategy was influenced by competition in the market. “With Apple's sequential decline, volumes were driven by new product introductions such as the RIM Storm, the T-Mobile G1, and strong performance from Samsung's touch-screen products.”

According to Gartner, HTC had a strong quarter, with record sales of its branded devices and operator-branded devices. Samsung's market share nearly tripled during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the strong push of its touch-screen offerings in the EMEA region put pressure on HTC, it adds.

In the smartphone operating system market, Symbian's share of the global market decreased to 47.1% in the fourth quarter of 2008, says Gartner. According to the research company, this followed “pressure from new platforms entering the consumer space, the continued decline of Nokia's smartphone sales and the weakness of the Japanese mobile device market...”

Gartner states RIM grew its year-on-year share of the global smartphone market to 19.5% from 10.9% and that Android smartphones accounted for 20% of total Linux sales.

Microsoft's share of the global smartphone market improved with unit sales up 16%. Gartner says this was mainly driven by the popularity of Samsung Omnia and touch-screen products from HTC.

Cozza states that smartphones will continue to experience competition, saying: “There will also be increased competition from full-featured enhanced phones that may offer a full qwerty keyboard. These devices offer much of the functionality of a smartphone, but at a lower price.

“In 2009, mobile platforms will be a major battleground as the associated user experience and role of the ecosystem grow in importance.”