August 13, 2009
Global smartphone sales surged 27 percent in the second quarter this year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the generally slump mobile device market, research firm Gartner reported on Wednesday.
Despite the rapid growth of smartphone sales, a total of about 286 million mobile phones were sold worldwide in the quarter, a 6.1-percent decrease compared with the year-ago period, Gartner said.
"Given the higher margins, smartphones offer the biggest opportunity for manufacturers. It is the fastest-growing market segment and the most resistant to declining average selling prices," Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, said in a statement.
Nokia maintained its leadership position in the global smartphone market with sales of about 18.4 million units, followed by Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM), which sold 7.7 million smartphones in the quarter. Apple remained third with sales of 5.4 million units.
Several much-anticipated smartphones were launched in the second quarter, including Nokia's N97, Apple's iPhone 3G S and Palm's Pre.
According to Gartner, N97 met little enthusiasm at its launch and has sold just 500,000 units in the quarter since it started to ship in June, compared to iPhone 3G S which sold 1 million units in its first weekend after launch.
The full potential of iPhone 3G S, which was brought to market at the end of the quarter, "will only start to show in the sales figures in the second half of 2009," Gartner predicted.
Palm's Pre attracted a lot of media attention but showed mixed results at the cash register as sales only reached 205,000 units in the quarter.
"Palm currently ranks tenth in the smartphone market and Gartner remains concerned about its ability to gain traction outside the U.S. market, where its brand is less strong," Gartner's principal analyst Roberta Cozza said.