(Click here for a larger view of HTC's Touch Diamond)While a yearly growth rate of over 10 percent would be welcome in many tech industries, the smartphone industry was only recently growing at a 22 percent clip, according to Gartner, which noted the start of a slowdown
in the previous quarter. Mobile carriers have been hoping to leverage smartphones to generate more lucrative service fees. Yet despite the fact that they have been subsidizing smartphones with lower prices, financially strapped consumers are balking at the hidden costs of two year contracts and high monthly data-plan rates, suggests the study.
Stated Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner, "The current economic climate is negatively impacting sales of higher end devices. Going forward, we should expect the smartphone device market to continue to grow, but at a slower pace."
iPhone/BlackBerry hog limelight, but Windows Mobile sales increaseThe big winners, claimed Gartner, are Research in Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry OS, which has risen 81.7 percent year-over-year, from 9.7 percent to 15.9 percent, and Apple's Mac OS X on the iPhone, which has soared 327.5 percent since last year, from 3.4 percent to 12.9 percent share. The iPhone received a 3Q boost from its iPhone 3G, and BlackBerry should rise next quarter on the strength of its new Storm phone, says Gartner.
Losers? Well, Microsoft's OS share was said to have dropped from 12.8 to 11.1 percent year over year, and Linux's from 8.8 to 7.2 percent.
The success of iPhone 3G sales in the third quarter of 2008 propelled Apple's OS X to third in the global OS provider rankings, according to Gartner. "For the first time, iPhone sales exceeded sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices worldwide and in North America," the firm added.
Attacking Windows Mobile, Gartner charged, "The lack of a competitive user interface will continue to limit Microsoft's mobile device usability when facing competitive consumer smartphones." However, the firm omitted to highlight the fact that, by its own figures, Windows Mobile sales actually increased.
| Company | 3Q08 Sales | 3Q08 Market Share (%) | 3Q07 Sales | 3Q07 Market Share (%) | 3Q08- 3Q07 Growth (%) |
| Symbian | 18,179 | 49.8 | 20,664 | 63.1 | -12.0 |
| Research In Motion | 5,800 | 15.9 | 3,192 | 9.7 | 81.7 |
| Mac OS X | 4,720 | 12.9 | 1,104 | 3.4 | 327.5 |
| Microsoft Windows Mobile | 4,053 | 11.1 | 4,180 | 12.8 | -3.0 |
| Linux | 2,622 | 7.2 | 2,884 | 8.8 | -9.1 |
| Palm OS | 780 | 2.1 | 383 | 1.2 | 103.3 |
| Others | 361 | 1.0 | 345 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
| Total | 36,515 | 100.0 | 32,753 | 100.0 | 11.5 |
Worldwide: preliminary smartphone sales to end users by operating system, 3Q08
(Thousands of Units. Source: Gartner)As shown in the above table, approximately 4.05 million Windows Mobile devices were sold during the third quarter of 2008, according to Gartner. And indeed, that's down three percent year-on-year, compared to 3Q 2007 device sales totaling 4.18 million.
But, according to
previously released Gartner figures, Microsoft sold approximately 3.87 million Windows Mobile devices during the second quarter of 2008. Looking at the two most recent quarters, then, Windows Mobile's sales are up more than four percent -- in the face of the recession.
In comparing operating system (OS) share, the study did support the
widely held impression that Symbian, now owned fully by Nokia, is sliding badly. Since the last quarter, Symbian's share plunged from 57.1 percent to 49.8 percent, and year over year it dropped 12 percent from 63.1 percent, says Gartner. The decline was attributed to Nokia's decline in smartphone sales (its "by vendor" share dropped to 42.4 percent from 47.5 percent the previous quarter and 48.7 percent the previous year), as well as the "continued weakness of the Japanese mobile device market."
According to Cozza, Nokia's "lack of a commercial touch-screen device in its smartphone portfolio prevented Nokia from capitalizing from consumer demand for this feature." She noted, however, that Nokia may see a boost next year from its recently announced N97 smartphone.
Sales by manufacturerAs well as tracking smartphone sales by operating system, Garner tracked them by vendor, as shown in the table below. As sole suppliers of the hardware that runs their software, Apple and RIM fared best, enjoying the 327.5 and 81.7 percent year-on-year growth rates already mentioned.
| Company | 3Q08 Sales | 3Q08 Market Share (%) | 3Q07 Sales | 3Q07 Market Share (%) | 3Q08- 3Q07 Growth (%) |
| Nokia | 15,472 | 42.4 | 15,964 | 48.7 | -3.1 |
| Research In Motion | 5,800 | 15.9 | 3,192 | 9.7 | 81.7 |
| Apple | 4,720 | 12.9 | 1,104 | 3.4 | 327.5 |
| HTC | 1,656 | 4.5 | 1,315 | 4.0 | 25.9 |
| Sharp | 1,239 | 3.4 | 1,535 | 4.7 | -19.3 |
| Others | 7,626 | 20.9 | 9,643 | 29.4 | -20.9 |
| Total | 36,515 | 100.0 | 32,753 | 100.0 | 11.5 |
Worldwide: preliminary smartphone sales to end users by vendor, 3Q08
(Thousands of Units. Source: Gartner)However, another standout continues to be HTC, whose fortunes are strongly tied to Windows Mobile. HTC dresses up Microsoft's operating system with a proprietary
TouchFLO user interface, and just announced acquisition of
One & Co., the San Francisco design firm that created the look of the HTC's
Touch Diamond (pictured at the top of our story) and other popular Windows Mobile phones.
According to Gartner, HTC sold more than 1.65 million devices in the third quarter of 2008, compared to 1.33 million devices in 2Q 2008. HTC's year-on-year growth for the quarter was said to be 25.9 percent.
Another recent study also confirmed gains in smartphone sales by Apple, RIM, and HTC, while highlighting poor performance by Nokia and its Symbian OS. For further details, see our earlier coverage of Canalys's smart phone and mobile navigation trends report,
here.
AvailabilityMore information on the Gartner report "Market Share: Smartphones, Worldwide, 3Q08," may be found
here.
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