Top 5 smartphone operating system vendors in first quarter of 2012

Telecom Lead India: Google Android, Apple iOS, Nokia
Symbian, Research In Motion, Bada and Microsoft are leading the smartphone OS
market in first quarter of 2012.


In the smartphone OS market, Android accounted for more
than half of all smartphone sales (56.1 percent) in the first quarter of 2012,
according to Gartner.


Apple iOS possesses 22.9 percent market share, followed
by Symbian OS with 8.6 percent market share.


However, Microsoft is still at the bottom with 1.9
percent market share, which is expected to increase in coming years with the
uptake of Lumia smartphones by Nokia.


This is particularly true for smartphones based on the
Android OS, where a strong commoditization trend is at work and most players
are finding it hard to break the mould,”  said Anshul Gupta, principal research
analyst at Gartner.

 

At the high end, hardware features coupled with
applications and services are helping differentiation, but this is restricted
to major players with intellectual property assets. However, in the mid to
low-end segment, price is increasingly becoming the sole differentiator. This
will only worsen with the entry of new players and the dominance of Chinese
manufacturers, leading to increased competition, low profitability and
scattered market share,” Gupta added.


Top 10 mobile phone vendors in first quarter of 2012
include Samsung, Nokia, Apple, ZTE, LG,Huawei Device, Research in Motion,
Motorola, Sony Mobile Communications and HTC.

 

Global sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1
million units in the first quarter of 2012, a 2 per cent decline from the first
quarter of 2011, according to Gartner.

 

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating
System in 1Q12 (Thousands of Units)


Operating System

1Q12

 Units

1Q12 Market Share (%)

1Q11

 Units

1Q11 Market Share (%)

Android

81,067.4

56.1

36,350.1

36.4

iOS

33,120.5

22.9

16,883.2

16.9

Symbian

12,466.9

8.6

27,598.5

27.7

Research In Motion

9,939.3

6.9

13,004.0

13.0

Bada

3,842.2

2.7

1,862.2

1.9

Microsoft

2,712.5

1.9

2,582.1

2.6

Others

1,242.9

0.9

1,495.0

1.5

Total

144,391.7

100.0

99,775.0

100.0


Source: Gartner (May 2012)


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