Apple doubles its iPhone market share
If there was any doubt about the popularity of Apple's iPhone, a quick look at the latest market share figures from research firm Gartner should put them to rest.
Released on Wednesday, the newest data from Gartner shows that Apple's share of worldwide smartphone sales grew from 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to 10.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009. In terms of unit sales, Apple jumped from 1.7 million in the first quarter of 2008 to 3.9 million during the same period in 2009.
While the quarter's iPhone adoption metrics may be impressive, Apple wasn't the only smartphone maker with big gains. Research In Motion saw its BlackBerry market share rise from 13.3 percent in first quarter of 2008 to 19.9 percent in 2009. The company's unit sales grew from 4.3 million to 7.2 million over the same period.
Nokia saw its market share drop almost 4 percent, from 45.1 percent in first quarter of 2008 to 41.2 percent in 2009. Despite the decline, Nokia remains the world's No. 1 smartphone maker, followed by Research In Motion and Apple.
Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza said growth in the smartphone category was driven by touch-screen products such as the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm, and credited "tighter integration with applications and services around music, mobile e-mail, and Internet browsing," as key factors to growth.
Although traditional mobile-phone sales still dominate the market, a clear shift is under way. Mobile-phone sales for the first quarter of 2009 totaled 269.1 million, a drop of 9.4 percent over the same period last year.
Smartphone sales for the first quarter of 2009 were 36.4 million, representing a 12.7 percent increase over the first quarter of 2008.
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. A guitar player for 20 years, Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to write and record songs on a Macintosh with Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Jim is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
For all you flamers and haters out there, you can't deny that the iPhone was an industry changer. Well you can, but that won't change the truth. If not for the iPhone, it's unlikely we would have the G1, Storm (this might have been a good thing), Pre, and all the other touchscreen smartphones that are flooding the market.
That the iPhone is the first mobile Internet device worth criticizing. It's a starting point that has set the bar for everyone else.
It is still in third place two years form the launch and its success in US i snot enough to overtake Nokia and RIMM from the top.
I love reading people's comments where they say "Apple should worry about (enter new, soon to be forgotten model here) in a couple months, it will kick iPhone's butt!"
Point is, Apple is no doubt planning some other move that the rest will follow. That phone that's gonna kick iPhone's ass in two months is an iPhone copy that will be 6 months behind in two months.
No, they don't win every race (anybody remember "eWorld"?). But when they do, they ca win big. And it's not by worrying about the also-rans.
Good point. I agree that it was Apple that has completely changed mobile communications forever. What's interesting is that this didn't come from the entrenched companies -- Palm, Microsoft, et cetera. Nokia has had a firm grip for years, but this only happened when Motorola lost its market share.
Now that every phone manufacturer is playing catchup to Apple, it will be interesting to see what comes out. In terms of OS, the Pre may end up being the most competitive, but the proof remains to be seen. Apple's strong point is software, and with so much experience and market momentum behind the company, I can't see the Pre taking a huge bite of the Apple (pun intended). Everyone else is at least 2 - 3 years behind Apple because they just tried to shoe-horn their operating system into a touch screen phone, which resulted in <<stellar>> products like the Storm.
Competition is good, and the mobile industry was too complacent which allowed Apple to make a huge shift in the industry.
Now, if someone can just do the same for the banking, auto, and other manufacturing industries...
Would the Storm be considered a risky product or a stroke of genius within the hallowed halls of Blackberry, had the iPhone never been invented?
I had a TREO before getting the iPhone, I don't miss the "physical" keyboard.
I think this argument is one made mainly by people who have never actually given the iPhone OS a try.. and are parroting articles and forum comments.
This was the argument that I heard at the time: that the mouse was a needless requirement that took too much time to master, so therefore they are sticking with PC/DOS. It's the same argument being used against the iPhone's virtual keyboard. The other reason against the Mac was the lack of a color screen (which I agreed with, and which I believe is why the Kindle has a long way to go), but given that the iPhone has a great screen, and the next version will most likely have an incredible OLED display, the display is actually in Apple's favor this time.
2: One thing that still annoys me about it and any other touchscreen keyboard is that I can't rest multiple fingers on it to type as quickly as I like.
Still looking for the perfect smartphone keyboard...
Snark
So, how much of the iPhone market does Apple now command? And, who lost ground in the iPhone market if Apple doubled their share of it?"
/Snark
Gotta love badly written headlines.
Bwaahahaha!
It's not even on the charts!
"They are seeing unprecedented demand," says Cote, adding that there appears to be no signs of a let up yet. Cote, a former T-Mobile executive, has been extremely accurate with wireless predictions in the past.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on Cote?s projections.
The blistering sales pace of Apple?s new gadget defies the otherwise downward trends in consumer spending, employment levels and overall economic health. The 3 million figure is much higher than Wall Street analysts had anticipated. Forecasts called for total quarterly sales of three million to four million
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- by jbozzo July 9, 2009 4:25 PM PDT
- Truthfully yesterday i realized what the problem is. My firend is a devout bb bold user and advocate. he used my iphone in the car and downloaded some song for me from itunes to listen in my car. downloaded it plugged it in my car in 1:30. after using the phone for 5 min he realized what all the hype was about and said "This phone is incredible". He ended up using it for 30 min.
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(33 Comments)All people need is some face time with the phone and use some of its functions in real life situations to understand the difference. watching someone else use it or seeing it on tv will not do enough to convert bb users. It's actually much more fluid and intuitive then people realize.