With Windows Mobile set to be rebranded come the launch of Windows Phone 7, Apple has taken a parting shot at the OS by superseding it as the third largest global smartphone OS in 2009.
That's according to shipment statistics published by research firm Gartner, the company stating that worldwide mobile sales totalled 1.211 billion units across the course of last year that represents a decline of 0.9 per cent from 2008.
On the slide
Nokia remains the dominant force in terms of total sales, taking 36.4 percent of the cake.
That's a fall of over 2 percent from the previous year's figures, however.
Samsung and LG seemingly taking chunks out of the Finnish giant, both growing their shares to 19.5 and 10.1 percent respectively.
Nevertheless, it's the smartphone market where Gartner claims Nokia is losing most ground. While Symbian handsets represented a healthy 47 percent of all smartphone sales in 2009, that figure is down from the OS's 2008 share of just under 53 percent.
"Symbian had become uncompetitive in recent years, but its market share, particularly on Nokia devices, is still strong," Gartner's principal research analyst Roberta Cozza said of the figures.
"If Symbian can use this momentum, it could return to positive growth."
Smart money on smartphones
Gartner says the smartphone market is the one sector that is bucking the overall sluggish sales trend, players taking advantage of this growth able to make serious inroads in the years to come.
On that front, both Apple and RIM have already "successfully captured market share from other larger device producers" throughout the course of 2009, according to Gartner research director Carolina Milanesi.
"Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 per cent from the same period in 2008," she added.
RIM currently sits in third place with a 20 percent share of all smartphone sales in 2009 according to Gartner's statistics, WinMo falling behind iPhone to fourth with a shrinking 9 percent share.
Additional information regarding Gartner's findings can be found in its latest report, Competitive Landscape: Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 4Q09 and 2009.
[source: mocoNews]
Data & Research
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
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