iPhone passes RIM, gains on Nokia
A snapshot of the global smartphone market issued Thursday by Canalys shows just how big a dent Apple's iPhone made in the cellphone universe last quarter.
With a surge of nearly 6.9 million shipments in calendar Q3, the iPhone leapfrogged past RIM (RIMM) and Motorola (MOT) to grab 17.3% of the smartphone market.
That put Apple (AAPL) in second place after Nokia, and helped cut the market-leader's share from 51.4% to 38.9%.
It also helped expand the entire smartphone category, which grew 28% from the same quarter last year to reach 40 million phones. The much larger cellphone market, by contrast, grew 3%.
Canalys also reports that Apple grabbed the No. 2 spot in smartphone operating systems, as the next table shows. Nokia's Symbian still dominates with 46.6% market share, but that's down sharply from 68.1% last year. RIM, Microsoft (MSFT) and Linux also registered gains, but nothing that compares with Apple's.
The Canalys report came the same day as a survey of business users that showed the iPhone leading all other smartphones in terms of customer satisfaction. See J.D. Power: iPhone beats BlackBerry.
However the iPhone's reign as No. 2 could be short-lived, according to Canalys. The U.K.-based research firm expects RIM to overtake Apple in the December quarter. RIM is selling three new products this holiday season — the Bold, Storm and Pearl 8220. If Steve Jobs has any more iPhones up his sleeve, we won't see them before Macworld in January.
The iPhone isn't perfect however with Apple's competition adopting many of the same features that just a year ago were unique to the iPhone, (think touch screen and app store) and despite the stranglehold on iPhone app developers I think we'd all agree that the iPhone has raised the smart phone feature with function bar and that's what differentiates the device. Imitation is supposed to be the highest form of flattery and in this case, imitation may be the catalyst for competition and competition is good for the consumer.
Simply put…
The iphone is for consumers and pro-sumers.
The BB arsenal of devices is for businesses.
No govt agency in America will allow the iphone as a business phone. These agencies will not purchase the iphone b/c of the ecryption issue or there lack of.
The BB devices have been approved by the federal government agencies and state / local agencies in America.
The iphone has not been approved.
Yes, the iphone is a great device (consumer speaking).
Once again, it will not be mainstream for the corporate world.
i prefer the blackberry,i wasnt that impressed with my friends IPhone and he has network trouble as well,i cant wait to see the new storm,i just love the fact i can access my Etrade account through my blackberry now and the storm should make it look even more impressive!..might even pick up a few shares of RIMM after i see this new storm model…
I've been a BB & verizon customer for years and switched this summer to a 3G. I can honestly say that the AT&T/iphone combo is considerably better in both cell and phone performance. I have better coverage with ATT and the phones are even comparable. Sorry RIM fans, not even close. Add into the fray all the apps that I have available to me for the iphone and it's almost unfair. Regardless of what RIM comes up with it's only a matter of time until they're an snapped up by one of their competitors. RIM is a dying brand.
From what I have read about the new BB Storm…..It's going to lay a hurt'n on the iphone. My guess is market share will make another shift as the iphone looses it's luster. You can't compare the iphone to the ipods sustained success. The ipod has itunes to back it up. The iphone has to compete on it's own merits. Although a great phone and certainly one to set the bar, it can be matched and surpassed by the Storm.
This is in reply to TMC who posted "the curve has a much better key pad and allows for one handed use while driving"
Why would you want to be such an idiot and use your phone while driving? If you want to kill youself go ahead, but dont put others at risk.
I phone it is great but it still has a lots of room for improvement.
1. ATT flat-out stinks. It needs to be offered by more then one carrier.
2. For heavy road travelers, the BB curve is still number one. The iphone has many apps that blow away the BB curve, but the curve has a much better key pad and allows for one handed use while driving.
I'm a mac user but I still use my curve because it is better for road travel, and Verzion's service is much better in the US. I now have a Ipod touch for entrainment, and the BB Curve for work/ email.
I have a BB for work and an iPhone for home. Love the iPhone, despise the BB. Maybe the fact that the BB is for work use contributes to the dislike.
Hi PED: I'm not really sure why the columnists and analysts consistently get the fiscal/calendar quarters wrong, especially between companies.
For instance, in your last paragraph, what does 'December quarter' mean? They don't line up. RIMM's current quarter is SEP/OCT/NOV. Apple's is (like nearly every other business in the northern hemisphere) OCT/NOV/DEC. See, they don't line up. Thus, it's impossible to compare, unless they break it out by months. We could do what Jobs did in the earnings call and just compare the quarters, but in the case of the holiday season, this doesn't work. Apple's includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all of the December holidays, but not New Year's day or after. RIMM is different.
You get the point by now I'm sure. Thanks.
Mark from Edinburgh: Let me see if I have this straight. Apple has been making a product for about 17 months now. Its competitors have been exclusively making the same product (or range of products) for their entire existence. In fact, with the exception of Apple and of the snow tire division in the case of Nokia, it's pretty much all that these companies develop and sell as businesses.
Apple gets so much right in their first 2 generations – 17 months – of product, that the other companies will need to catch up. But you say that we should rest assured, they will catch up, and when they do…..what exactly?
Why was it necessary for Apple to create this product for Nokia or RIMM or Palm or Samsung or whomever to see what people features like to use? Wasn't it their industry? Were they lazy, or self-satisfied, or just plain ineffective? Why are they all now racing to make what Apple has already created, and why should I believe you that they have now learnt their lesson?
I just don't buy it.
I found the comments on this page very intriguing!
1. iphone sells itunes and itunes sells iphones.
I agree with this today partially, I feel itunes is forced upon people with macbooks and in turn get an iphone because it would be a pain to change….this business practice is Apple's business model. I think it sucks! I should be able to use any app I want in todays world. This tactic has been a great asset and in my mind a great failure.
2. Moore's law states computers will double in capacity every 18 months. We will have hand held PCs with heads up displays and the with all the power we need in about 3 years
I am surprised that no one noticed that the only real loser in the data was Nokia and everyone else but Apple and RIMM. RIMM's market share was still up over 2007 with a 5 point increase. Apple really stole business from Nokia and everyone else. And yes I own a BB and am eagerly awaiting the coming STORM. te he
Mark from Edinburgh.
Something your analysis completely misses is that the iPhone is not just a device. The iPhone has strong services attached to it. In this regard Steve Jobs is 100% correct in his assertion that the rest of the market is 5 years behind. Like the iPod you have a device that sells a service and a service that sells a device. The music industry is still playing catchup to date. Until other manufacturers can create strong services to attach to their devices Apple will continue to erode market share from them.
Lots of impressive biz stats, etc. here. However, for years I've been saying I won't buy one of these things until they come out w/heads-up display glasses… My way of pointing out the interface is still problematic. This is reflected in the "it's great to look at!" and "it's got a great keyboard" arguments and comments herein. But…think about it folks. Double the top-end memory in the Touch or the iPhone and you have a modest volume pocket-sized PC w/an interface that gets you by if you aren't docked somewhere or can't unroll the keyboard or plug in the glasses…
Double the memory again and figure the functionality that will arrive by then, and we're looking at one of the leading candidates for THE portable box that does pretty much everything you want – a leading candidate for "best handheld PC"…back-check the rate that RAM has been added to the iPhone and the Touch and you'll get an idea of how much longer before it's likely to happen…
My guess is that many of those with iPhones that bash BBs have never owned a BB. There is a reason why almost every government and business uses RIMM's technology.
RIMM's security (although Apple has come a long way) is superior, their reliability is unsurpassed and there is a version for every network type.
Apple found its niche in the MP3 market, but lets be honest people were not tied to a specific model and there wasn't one brand/model that lead the pack at that time.
The phone market place (specifically smart phone/PDA), there are leaders in the market and each one offers a unique advantage to the others, and most run on every network.
Ultimately, I think long term, the exclusive contract and single band (although most popular worldwide) with AT&T is going to really hurt them.
As for the music player, I find it perfectly fine (I actually am probably one of the few who has had a iPod and not liked its interface).
There are some pretty silly comments in here.
First of all Apple's sales are impressive, however they also represent the launch period of its only product in this sector so their status as number 2 in smartphone manufacturing will be short lived indeed. This is no reflection on the quality of the product, merely economic fact because Apple's competitors are scheduling their product launches for the next two quarters – RIM with the Storm and Bold, Nokia with the 5800 and N85.
Secondly, it's true that Apple probably has the best overall UI out there but the differences now are so minimal that it's becoming an increasingly marginalised quality. I think Steve Jobs was out by three years when he said that the iPhone was five years ahead of the game.
Finally, the iPhone has sold really well but, in Europe at least, no better than the N95 did. It's this year's hot phone, next year focus will have moved on to something else.
The smartphone industry is short term and brutal and there are always new models coming out. The iPhone galvanised the industry but now the catch up period is nearly over.
well iPhone will keep gaining fans, because the one thing yo all missed is the ipod's halo effect.
Truth is – everyone has itunes and and iphone. The only logical thing to do when a person wants both in one device instead of a RIM and and ipod is to get everything in one device.
Apple will keep killing the competition just like they killed the MP3 player market, despite facing giants like Sony, LG, etc.
Remember everyone loves their ipod, they love itunes, itunes store etc.
What Apple has is : Excellent , high quality device, excellent user interface and computer interface for syncing and maintaing media (itunes) , huge number of high quality apps in appstore, Everything runs on a well built well tested device and software platform. There is only one os and one phone. It's not like 3-4 devices with various drivers and interfaces and bugs and crappy hacking to make them work.
I'm a Blackberry user dating back to the original old pager-style unit in 2000. I now carry a Curve. Last month, I forced myself to use an iPhone exclusively for 30 days. In the end, I LOVED the iPhone, but went back to my BB Curve. Why? The iPhone cut my email productivity in half, and that is 80% of the reason I carry a Smartphone/PDA. I now have a 32GB iPod Touch that I use for all music, video and most web browsing -and I love it (it replaced my 3G iPod nano). The limitation of WiFi-only networking is acceptable to me since I now use it as a predominantly entertainment-oriented device that I keep in my briefcase most of the time. I use my Curve for email, calendar, rolodex and misc notes and it's great for that. Bottom line: BB Curve keyboard can't be beat for real-life business productivity.
It is probably not so surprising that Apple has come on so strong. A smartphone is by definition a convergence of a handheld computer, a phone, a PDA and entertainment player. Across all these Apple already had most of the pieces, and so brought more to the game than say a cell phone (Nokia) or email device company (BB).
As an owner of both a BB Bold and and iPhone, I see very clearly the problem RIM faces going forward — how to catch up on those other bits, the browser still sucks, the music player doesn't compare and there is nowhere near the ecosystem of application developers. They've made a real leap forward on the interface design with the Bold, I love the screen, but they've got to work so much harder to get all the other pieces together.
Where Apple has nothing on RIM, however, is the integration with the PC desktop and the deep footprint that RIM has in Enterprise IT organizations. RIM will own this niche for a long time to come.
Apple better not try and take on Nokia and start selling those cheesy $10 handsets that make up the bulk of Nokia's sales. Apple doesn't need to be selling to the low-class bottom feeders. They can't make any profit from that junk. Stick with selling to the elite who love to throw away money for a new high-tech toy every couple of years. If you just want an inexpensive handset, buy Nokia. If you want a handheld computer, buy Apple.
In the end, the only smartphones that will matter will come from Apple and RIM.
勝手なこと言ってしまってよかった。Steve Jobsがだいすきですよ。
I know Mac sales are not going to overwhelm in Japan, but even chipping away a few percent every year will have to do.
There's a fourth Blackberry out this holiday season in addition to the Storm, Bold, and flip Pearl – the new Curve, called the Javelin, is a smaller Bold that will do well with casual users upgrading from their Curves. RIM's not beaten yet…
So Nokia shipped -3.4% less units. This means the big chunk of market share loss was in the unit growth department. In order words, most new units sold were not Nokia. Is that a big surprise? NO, since Nokia didn't release any major new product. Let's wait until new products roll out and see the numbers.
Hey why is everyone fighting these companies' battles?
I mean the better the iPhone gets the harder RIMM and all the other guys will try to make a better phone. Most people should thank apple for releasing the iPhone. Not because it's great but because it caused innovations in all the major cell companies.
The iPhone caused a wave that made the other big guys take a second look at the handsets they were making. They can't believe that a company that has never made a phone before took the No.2 spot with only their second generation phone.
Without the iPhone, touch wouldn't be so awesome. Sure touch has been around for years but not like the iPhone's touch system.
We can all just support our favorite handsets but its the iPhone that started the revolution…
With soon to be recognized burial of Windows Mobile, we have iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and Symbian OSes still competing.
iPhone leads by miles today, but the others are mightily scrambling to catch up.
Surprises ahead?
My guess is msft ships a proprietary phone and abandons its Windows Mobile partners (See Plays for Sure partners.).
Not surprising, but Apple ships another form factor/price point in 2009.
Nokia abandons Symbian for Android.
And Apple defines a transcendant arc of innovation in the iPhone family w/ 2 other models between 2010 and 2011.
Eventually Apple is unmatched and takes the lead in mobiles away from Nokia.
Why does it seem every "survey" is likely some poor user still using a 4 year old Blackberry 7290 and then being shown an Iphone? Let's do a similar survey against current BLackberry hardware (Bold / Storm) and see the results.
Interesting to note that RIMM is doing rather nicely as well, considering they haven't even released half of their products for the holiday season yet. It looks like AAPL and RIMM are basically both eating Nokia's share – and Windows Mobile to some extent.
Let's not forget, however, that AAPL is *way* more than a smartphone manufacturer. I'm not a RIMM basher, but I do think they're a one-trick pony company. It's a good pony at that! I'll be perfectly happy if there's an oligopoly between Apple, Nokia, and RIMM as well as smaller players (Windows Mobile can leave, thankyouverymuch) — but I'm still much more interested in the overall Apple picture. If I were a Mac user, would I buy and Iphone or a Blackberry? If I was an iPod user, which would it be? Let's not forget that the iPhone:
1) Has OS X
2) Has a real browser (Safari)
3) is the best iPod with coverflow, etc. (Blackberry is… um… NOT the best iPod).
On RIMM's side we have:
1) A real keyboard (as an iPhone user, I know that the virtual keyboard *is* a pain)…
…and that's about it for now!
RIMM, prove me wrong. AAPL, keep innovating across products!
RIM is in a reactionary mode and so don't be surprised if the Storm is late or turns out to be a dude. Hey the Bold was late and who's going to buy a bulky, clunky device? I mean it looks nice; but so did my Dad's cadillac.
And if Apple's next iPhone update. 2.2 I believe, includes the ability to download podcast in the background or like the App stores does; then the Storm would have a steep hill to climb indeed.
The iPhone is a revolution. A few people here at work have them and showcase the app du-jour and leave the rest of us with Sprint contracts just drooling. As soon as my contract is up, I'm getting the iPhone. Other phones can't hold a candle to the iPhones design, integration, and coolness factor.
Yea, so? Smartphones are a high price product. And guess what? Thats the kinda stuff people arent going to buy a whole lot in a recession. Dont expect these growth rates in 2009. On top of that, its just a tiny piece of the mobilephone market. Yes, it has grown fast, but that is always the case with young segments (see ipod – once the be all and end all of apple, now its slowly turning into a millstone on Jobs leg because it doesnt deliver the fantastic revenues anymore – and analysts and investors alike just dont smell whats cooking).
Yes, I love my iphone 3G but to imply that apple can take on the world, let alone Nokia as a whole is a joke. You wont ever see apple sell 117 million phones (not just smartphones, of course) in a quarter because apple cant get out of its skin and start selling value products.
Methins the next quarter (Calendar Q109) will tell the tale as the other companies all put their "Big screen, programable OS" phones on the market. Then we will see if iPhone really holds its own and stays in the lead or not.
In the last year, smartphones increased by 8,693,860.
iPhones increased by 5,791,560.
The increase in iPhones accounted for 66.6% of the TOTAL increase in smartphone sales.
Pretty remarkable, no?
Please retitle the article to:
"iPhone Trashes World, 2/3s of All Smartphone Increase is iPhone's"
Tech investors are crazy! Even though I am glad, as a shareholder, the iPhone has become a phenomenon, I have to comment that we don't often see this kind of a race in media about oil or gold production, etc.
So cool to see forward and creative thinking rewarded like this. I followed the iPhone story from the beginning and the amount of critics that were certain it would be a dismal failure was huge. Even at this early stage, it has been a lot more successful than a lot of those critics thought, and I think we haven't seen its full potential yet.
For the guy that posted THIS:
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2. For heavy road travelers, the BB curve is still number one. The iphone has many apps that blow away the BB curve, but the curve has a much better key pad and allows for one handed use while driving.
Posted By TMC, Portland Maine : November 10, 2008 1:42 pm
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Try the new Nokia 97 (blows away BOTH these phones)its full qwerty and/or touch screen allows for TWO HANDED USE WHILE DRIVING, guaranteed to keep your attention of the road.
Cheers