However, IDC denoted that
smartphones maintained their growth momentum as the iPhone 4S was well received
in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. Also, Windows Phone gained some
momentum with the growing sales the HTC Titan, Radar and Nokia Lumia.
In China, competition in the Android
market intensified as mid-range vendors, such as Lenovo, Coolpad, and Huawei,
shipped large numbers. However, the worldwide Android market was dominated by
Samsung, followed by HTC and LG.
IDC also revealed that
the Western European mobile phone market was impacted by lower
demand. Nokia experienced another difficult quarter as a result of its
transition towards Windows Phones. Feature phone shipments were near historic
lows, supported primarily by very low-end devices. Overall, the Central
Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMA) markets showed strong double-digit
growth due in large part to Samsung’s continued strength in the regions.
In North America, smartphones
held the spotlight with the launch of the Apple iPhone 4S, while LTE
smartphones from HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung also made important gains.
Research In Motion launched several new phones running on BB OS 7 during the
quarter.
IDC revealed that low-cost
feature phones ruled the Latin American market, with strong participation from
Nokia, Samsung, and multiple Chinese vendors. Also, the market share of
Smartphones improved with the launch of multiple models across the region,
particularly sub-$200 Android models.