| Symbian tops smartphone OSes, but challenges loom |
Mar. 20, 2007
Symbian continues its dominant position in the smartphone operating system market, thanks to Nokia's 56.4 percent share of the 70.9 million smartphones shipped in 2006, ABI Research reports. However, Symbian's estimated 73 percent 2006 marketshare is expected to drop to 46 percent by 2012, the market research firm predicts.
While the definition of "smartphone" varies among analysts, ABI uses the term in connection with cellphones that have complex operating systems, such as Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Linux.
Nokia sold 40 million smartphones in 2006, compared to 28.5 million in 2005, the market research firm says. Motorola also had a "strong 2006," according to ABI, to come in a distant second with 8.5 percent of the market, driven by the success of its Linux-based devices in China, most notably the MING.
Despite Nokia's overwhelming lead, ABI contends that Symbian's strong position in the smartphone operating system market is "under continued and increasing threat." As average selling prices (ASP) continue to plummet, manufacturers are pressed to save on software costs, ABI notes. This explains Symbian's decision to lower its license fees, and the increasing interest in Linux, according to the research firm.
Specifically, ABI Research director Stuart Carlaw predicts that Symbian's market share will "fall to 46 percent by 2012, due to strong competition coming most notably from Linux, but also from Windows Mobile."
Other analysts have offered similar viewpoints. Last fall, In-Stat reported that Windows Mobile's U.S. market position in the first half of 2006 had pulled even with those of BlackBerry and Palm. For its part, in September IDC projected that Windows Mobile would capture 32.3 percent of the enterprise market for "converged mobile devices" by 2010.
Just over a year ago, The Diffusion Group (TDG) predicted that Windows Mobile would overtake both Symbian and Linux by 2010, garnering 29 percent of the market to 26 percent for Linux and 22 percent for Symbian. TDG noted that Microsoft has the advantage of leveraging "tight integration" with its other Windows OS products in both the enterprise and "advanced consumer" markets.
Further information on ABI's report, "Smartphones and the OS Market" is available here.
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