Global smartphone shipments in first quarter of 2011 reached 100 million, a drop of 0.5% compared to fourth quarter of 2010 shipments and a 75% gain over first quarter of 2010, according to a new report by ABI Research.
The report revealed that in comparison the overall handset market is estimated to be 380 million devices, or a 2.5% reduction from fourth quarter 2010 levels.
ABI Research senior analyst Michael Morgan said although seasonality is often cited as the cause of the shrinkage, Nokia’s 15% sequential decline acted as a drag on Q1’s anemic market growth.
Nokia’s smartphone market share dropped to 25% in the first quarter, down from 40% in the first quarter of 2010.
While Nokia remains positive about its strategic shift to the Windows Phone 7 platform, ABI Research firm believes Nokia’s losses to accelerate through 2011.
The research firm said that Apple has benefited from an extra 2.2 million Verizon iPhones and strong performance during the Asia-Pacific holiday season with a 15% sequential gain in shipments.
Samsung smartphones also performed well in Q1 showing 16% sequential gain, which lifted it to 13% of total smartphone shipments. The increased shipments from Samsung and Apple roughly equaled the drop in shipments from Nokia.
HTC delivered 7% growth and 9.5 million smartphones, while RIM remained essentially flat with 2% sequential growth, and Motorola Mobility shipments experienced a 16% decline.
Further, the Android platform was installed in more than 30 million shipped smartphones in Q1, to take first place away from historic platform leader Symbian which was delivered in 25.6 million smartphones over the same period.
Apple’s growth over the quarter moved iOS from 16% market share to 19% and a solid third place.
