Outlook Series | Global Smartphone Shipments Surge 30% in Q4 2009

Global Smartphone Shipments Surge 30% in Q4 2009

February 1, 2010

Global smartphone shipments grew 30 percent year-over-year, to reach a record 53 million units in Q4 2009. This was the strongest period of growth since Q3 2008 and smartphones are leading the handset industry out of recession.

Tom Kang, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments reached a record 53 million units during Q4 2009, rising 30 percent from 41 million in Q4 2008. This was the strongest period of growth since Q3 2008 and smartphones are leading the handset industry out of recession. Sales are being driven by stronger consumer demand and a stream of attractive new 3G models tempting buyers into retail stores.”

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “The smartphone market will become ultra competitive in 2010. Samsung and LG have ambitious plans to grow volumes and expand their app stores, while emerging players like Dell and Huawei are strengthening their device portfolios and courting major operators. The smartphone wars will be good news for consumers, but the fierce competition will inevitably place downward pressure on vendors’ pricing and margins.”

Other findings from Strategy Analytics’ Q4 2009 Global Smartphone Market Share Update report include:

Nokia shipped a record 20.8 million smartphones worldwide in Q4 2009, rising an impressive 38 percent from 15.1 million units a year earlier. This was Nokia’s strongest smartphone quarter since the first half of 2008, giving the firm a timely end-of-year boost to its revenue and profit. Key models included the E71 and E72 messaging phones;
RIM shipped a record 10.7 million smartphones worldwide in Q4 2009, remaining comfortably ahead of Apple’s 8.7 million units during the quarter. RIM continues to expand its international footprint beyond the core territory of North America deeper into Western Europe and parts of Asia;
Global smartphone shipments reached an all-time high of 173.8 million units in 2009, growing 15 percent from 151.1 million during 2008.

Global Smartphone Shipments and Marketshare -- Top 3 Vendors

Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q4 '08	2008	Q4 '09	2009
Nokia	15.1	60.5	20.8	67.8
RIM	7.6	23.5	10.7	34.5
Apple	4.4	13.7	8.7	25.1
Others	13.7	53.4	12.8	46.4
Total	40.8	151.1	53.0	173.8

Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare %	Q4 '08	2008	Q4 '09	2009
Nokia	37.0%	40.0%	39.2%	39.0%
RIM	18.6%	15.5%	20.2%	19.8%
Apple	10.8%	9.1%	16.4%	14.4%
Others	33.6%	35.4%	24.2%	26.7%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Growth Year-over-Year	19.1%	23.1%	29.8%	15.0%