Nokia lost the #1 spot to red hot Apple. And Samsung seized on a shipment decline at Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) to vault to second place in the smartphone market for the second quarter, says IHS iSuppli. RIM’s shipments declined by 10.8% during the period, making it the only other major brand besides Nokia to suffer a sequential decline in shipments. As a result, RIM fell to the fourth ranking, down from third place in the first quarter.
Like Nokia, RIM is losing share to the Android platform as it struggles to develop a complete ecosystem for its operating system and develop a device capturing consumer trends. Most of RIM’s market share loses are taking place in Europe and North America. So, Africa is still a RIM Country! Yes, Continent.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s shipments have surged because of its broad focus on all parts of the smartphone business with its shotgun approach to address all segments and leverage the Android platform. In addition to premium smartphones, Samsung has been offering low-end models that appeal to consumers in China and Latin America, driving up the company’s shipments.
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Smartphones represent the fastest-growing and most lucrative segment of the global cellphone business. Because of this, the smartphone has become the central focus for mobile handset makers. The researchers concluded that they expect smartphone shipments to reach 478 million units by the end of 2011, up 62.4 percent from 2010. In comparison, the overall cellphone business will expand by 13.5 percent for the year. The average selling price for smartphones ranges from two to five times the average for all mobile phones in 2011.