This article was published on October 27, 2010

ABI: One Of Every Five Phones Shipped In Q2 2010 Was A Smartphone


ABI: One Of Every Five Phones Shipped In Q2 2010 Was A Smartphone

A new report from ABI Research shows that the smartphone market is continuing to boom, as almost one in every five of all handsets shipped in the second quarter of 2010 was a smartphone device.

In Q2, 19% of mobile shipments were smartphones, an increase of 12% from the previous quarter and a staggering 50% jump compared to the same quarter in 2009. Growth is being driven by the emergence of heavily subsidised smartphone pricing which is no longer considered a barrier to smartphone adoption, instead restrictive data plans are seen as more of an obstacle.

The smartphone market is growing but many analysts feel the market structure cannot be sustained. With so many manufacturers and mobile operating systems competing in the market, it is thought that the only way the market can be sustained is for “three or four key operating systems” to dominate the market and reduce fragmentation of users.

Nokia, Apple, HTC and RIM are leading the smartphone charge, posting impressive revenues and in some cases smashing sales records. The introduction of Windows Phone 7 could further increase smartphone demand or could instead help increase consumer confusion in a market dominated by so many brands.

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