Smartphone sales show strong growth in Q1

The global smartphone market grew by more than 50 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to new data from IDC. Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 54.7 million units in the quarter, up 56.7 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Growth was over twice that seen in the overall mobile market, which grew 21.7 percent over the same period. Smartphones accounted for 18.8 percent of all mobile devices shipped in 1Q10, up slightly from 14.4 percent in 1Q09. First quarter growth was also higher than the 38 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter, typically the strongest quarter for phone sales. “2010 looks to be another year of large-scale consumer adoption of converged mobile devices,” said Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC. “This year, we expect [software] updates for BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile to spark greater smartphone demand with their offerings.”

Nokia maintained its position as the leading smartphone vendor in 1Q10 with its market share unchanged from a year ago. BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion remained second, while Apple more than doubled its shipments from a year ago to stay third. The iPhone-maker’s smartphone market share increased from 10.9 percent to 16.1 percent over the period, according to IDC’s figures. Meanwhile, Motorola continues to grow its smartphone market share, having launched several new Android-based smartphones in the last two quarters. The firm launched six new Android devices in 1Q10 and plans to launch a further 20 models this year.

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker