Apple's iPhone is emerging as king of the corporate world as global shipments of smartphones reached a new peak. Defying speculation about a global recession, worldwide smartphone shipments climbed to just shy of 40 million units in the third quarter, according to the latest estimates from Canalys. That means smartphones now represent about 13 percent of the total mobile-phone market, up from 11 percent in the second quarter.
The iPhone 3G's introduction in July led the charge.
Apple's expansion into many countries around the globe helped the company scale to second place worldwide, outshining Research In Motion in the quarter and boasting higher shipments than all Microsoft-based smartphones combined. Nokia remained the market leader despite a sales decline.
Corporations Don't Overlook Apple
It was expected that Apple would figure among the smartphone leaders for the quarter, with a huge initial new-product shipment; it was just a question of how high it would be, according to Pete Cunningham, Canalys senior analyst. Despite RIM being nudged into third place, he said, its growth of more than 80 percent shouldn't be overlooked.
"This is also a tremendous performance, especially considering the delays it experienced in rolling out the BlackBerry Bold," Cunningham said. "Some customers will also have been waiting for the Storm to arrive. With these new products and the clamshell
Apple has done well in its efforts to unseat entrenched players like RIM and Microsoft Windows Mobile solutions that have owned the business market for years, said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy for Jupitermedia. But one of the most interesting aspects of the iPhone is J.D. Power's recent report that the device had the "highest satisfaction of any business device."
"There's a keyword in there: Business device," Gartenberg said. "The iPhone started off with a very strong consumer reputation and focus. Apple has done a good job positioning the device not as a business device, not as a consumer device, but as a device that appeals to individuals that are going to use it for both parts of their life."
Nokia's Disadvantage
The success of Apple and RIM, as well as fifth-placed HTC with its Windows Mobile devices, has eaten into Nokia's share of the smartphone market, according to Canalys. The research firm noted, however, that Nokia's broad portfolio of models, and the wider audience it attracts, leaves it more exposed to the trends affecting the overall handset market. Year on year, its smartphone shipments fell in the third quarter for the first time.
"Nokia is also transitioning from some very successful volume drivers, like the N95 and E65, to a number of successors, such as the flagship N96, and shipments of these new models have not yet ramped up," Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd said.
"And Nokia has taken time to bring a touch screen product to market in the wake of the iPhone's success, despite having had the experience of producing the Series 90-based 7710 four years ago. Conversely, vendors such as HTC with its Touch Diamond have capitalized on customer demand for this type of product."
Motorola's Place in the Mix
Motorola is hanging onto fourth place in smartphones thanks largely to its Linux-based models, according to Canalys. Motorola recently announced it would move away from using the Symbian OS and focus more on Google's Android platform.
Canalys' conclusion: Competition in the smartphone space is heating up, and being able to introduce technology and user-interface enhancements quickly is critical.
"You also need to be able to integrate them seamlessly into the device to provide a great total user experience. And that means having sufficient control of development of the operating system, which Apple and RIM clearly have already," Shepherd said. "Nokia's acquisition of Symbian should help it in this regard, regardless of what other Symbian Foundation members choose to do."