There used to be a time where Windows Mobile and RIM’s BlackBerry dominated the smartphone market, fast forward to 2011 however and Windows Mobile’s share has dropped to a mere 3% and RIM currently only hold 10% of the market share, so what happened?
Simple, throughout the past few years Android and iOS handsets have taken over the market, currently the who giants hold a combined 82% of the market.
According to data released on Tuesday by market research firm The NPD Group, “The competitive landscape for smartphones, which has been reshaped by Apple and Google, has ultimately forced every major handset provider through a major transition,” Furthermore more Ross Rubin, executive director adds “For many of them, 2012 will be a critical year in assessing how effective their responses have been.”
BlackBerry devices comprised half of all smartphone sales in Q2 2006, but have since seen a steep decline, ending the third quarter of 2011 with just 8 percent market share.
While Nokia remains the top handset vendor in the world, it has suffered a major blow in smartphone sales during the transition from Symbian to Windows Phone, seeing a decline from a 33 percent share in 2010 to 14 percent in 2011.
During the three months ending in September, Apple held its title as America’s top smartphone maker with a 28.3 percent share followed by HTC and RIM with 20.3 percent and 17.8 percent, respectively, according to Nielsen. Android phones as a whole dominated the market, however, garnering a 42.8 percent share.
If you would like to read the whole press release it can be found here.
What do you think, will Nokia and RIM be able to regain their market share?
