22% of 115 million smartphones shipped were from the Korean giant, compared with Apple’s 15%. While Apple continues to find success with its premium iPhone range, its main rival is finding success with handsets at a range of price points. Flagship model, the Galaxy S II has continued the success of the first generation device, while compelling new smartphones including Galaxy Note (5.3” display) are poised to shake-up the market.
However, with Apple’s iPhone 4S selling 4 million in the first three days, Samsung will have to pull-out all the stops to keep the Cupertino, CA-based company from re-taking top spot. Daniel Ashdown, Research Analyst with Juniper Research notes: “While the 4S is essentially an iPhone 4 with hardware upgrades, Siri is going to be a killer app for Apple. And the continuation of the iPhone 4 and 3GS in effect positions the company’s handsets at a range of price points, without losing their premium image.”
Taiwan-based HTC has doubled its shipments year-on-year in Q3 to 13.2 million overtaking Blackberry-maker RIM (11.9 million, down 8% y-o-y). Meanwhile, Nokia’s shipments improved q-o-q, after two successive declines. And with the Finnish company’s first Windows Phone 7 handset coming out, things may be looking up for Nokia. In Q3 the company shipped 16.8 million smartphones, up slightly from the 16.7 million in Q2.