Some trends are so long in coming that the actual event seems anticlimactic. That seems to be true for smart phone sales, which according to analysts at Gartner have surpassed sales of feature or basic phones for the first ever in the second quarter of 2013.
To be sure there will be a market for basic devices for quite some time. But, sooner or later, when nearly every device is “smart,” the term will have lost its meaning, and smart phones will simply be phones.
Global mobile phone sales to end users totaled 435 million units in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of 3.6 percent from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc.
Worldwide smart phone sales to end users reached 225 million units, up 46.5 percent from the second quarter of 2012.
Sales of feature phones to end users totaled 210 million units and declined 21 percent year-over-year.
Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe exhibited the highest smart phone growth rates of 74.1 percent, 55.7 percent and 31.6 percent respectively, as smart phone sales grew in all regions.
Samsung had the highest global market share of the smart phone market, at 31.7 percent, up from 29.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012.
Apple’s smart phone sales reached 32 million units in the second quarter of 2013, up 10.2 percent from the same quarter of 2012.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Company
|
2Q13
Units
|
2Q13 Market Share (%)
|
2Q12
Units
|
2Q12 Market Share (%)
|
Samsung
|
71,380.9
|
31.7
|
45,603.8
|
29.7
|
Apple
|
31,899.7
|
14.2
|
28,935.0
|
18.8
|
LG Electronics
|
11,473.0
|
5.1
|
5,827.8
|
3.8
|
Lenovo
|
10,671.4
|
4.7
|
4,370.9
|
2.8
|
ZTE
|
9,687.6
|
4.3
|
6,331.4
|
4.1
|
Others
|
90,213.6
|
40.0
|
62,704.0
|
40.8
|
Total
|
225,326.2
|
100.0
|
153,772.9
|
100.0
|
Source: Gartner (August 2013)
The news that BlackBerry is exploring “strategic alternatives” (financial speak for “we are for sale”) can be interpreted in light of Gartner’s operating system market share figures as well.
In the smart phone operating system (OS) market, Microsoft took over BlackBerry for the first time, taking the third spot with 3.3 percent market share in the second quarter of 2013.
For a firm that once lead the smart phone market, that continued slippage is a clear sign that BlackBerry rapidly is losing the ability to succeed as an independent company.
Global Smart Phone Sales, by Operating System in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Operating System
|
2Q13
Units
|
2Q13 Market Share (%)
|
2Q12
Units
|
2Q12 Market Share (%)
|
Android
|
177,898.2
|
79.0
|
98,664.0
|
64.2
|
iOS
|
31,899.7
|
14.2
|
28,935.0
|
18.8
|
Microsoft
|
7,407.6
|
3.3
|
4,039.1
|
2.6
|
BlackBerry
|
6,180.0
|
2.7
|
7,991.2
|
5.2
|
Bada
|
838.2
|
0.4
|
4,208.8
|
2.7
|
Symbian
|
630.8
|
0.3
|
9,071.5
|
5.9
|
Others
|
471.7
|
0.2
|
863.3
|
0.6
|
Total
|
225,326.2
|
100.0
|
153,772.9
|
100.0
|
Source: Gartner (August 2013)
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