- Image via CrunchBase
The sale of smartphones around the world has skyrocketed with an increase of 49% (54.3 million units) in the first quarter of 2010, compared to an increase of 17% in all mobile phone sales (314.7 million) for the same period. The report, by Gartner Inc. – an IT research and advisory firm, also shows that Google’s Android smartphone operating system and Research in Motion’s Blackberry, are also gaining popularity by taking fourth place in the OS and manufacturers’ ranking for the first time.
Top 5 Mobile Phone Manufacturers – Source: Gartner (May 2010)
| Company | 1Q09 Market Share (%) |
| 1. Nokia | 36.2 |
| 2. Samsung | 19.1 |
| 3. LG | 9.9 |
| 4. Research in Motion | 2.7 |
| 5. Sony Ericsson | 5.4 |
Top 5 Smartphone Sales by OS – Source: Gartner (May 2010)
| Company | 1Q09 Market Share (%) |
| 1. Symbian | 48.8 |
| 2. Research in Motion | 20.6 |
| 3. iPhone OS | 10.5 |
| 4. Android | 1.6 |
| 5. Microsoft Windows Mobile | 10.2 |
The increase in sale has been attributed to new communication service providers in mature markets such as the United Kingdom, China and South Korea due to wider availability and mass market price tags in emerging markets, such as India.