Finnish Statistics: 89% of the population uses a Nokia, 1 in 50 people have the N95

A report [PDF file] has surfaced from the “oh really, you had to pay someone to figure this out?” department at the Aalto University School of Science and Technology that gives a good amount of detail as to the make up of the Finnish mobile handset space. Unsurprisingly, Antti Riikonen, one of the researchers on the MoMI (Model of Mobile Internet Usage and Business) team, stated that 89% of the Finnish population uses a device made by Nokia.

How was this data gathered? The three operators that exist in Finland (DNA, Elisa, Sonera) gave the University access to their databases that show which devices are on a network at any given time. Every time you swap your SIM card into a new mobile phone, your operator knows what new device you’re using, down to the serial number. This data wasn’t produced out of some random survey, but instead is as concrete as data can get.

Here are some more interesting points:

• Sonera, the AT&T of Finland, meaning the only operator allowed to sell the iPhone, did not disclose iPhone usage numbers
• In 2005 99.4% of devices connected to the network were mobile phones, in 2009 that dropped to 92.2% thanks to the increasing popularity of USB modems
• Out of the top 10 devices, only 1 is a smartphone, and it’s the Nokia E51 at 10th place
• Handset fragmentation is increasing; the top 50 devices made up 70% of all devices in use during 2008, but in 2009 it’s down to 66%
• GPS finally reached the 10% penetration mark in 2009
• In 2005 Samsung had 1.7% of the market, now in 2009 it’s up to 5.7%
• 50% of all devices in use in 2009 run S40, and 22% run Symbian, that’s up from 46% and 20% respectively in 2008
• In 2008 5% of devices had a QWERTY keyboard and 0.3% had a touch screen, in 2009 that’s jumped up to 7% and 2% respectively

I’m afraid to say this, but … I thought the Finnish market would be a little more advanced. The 8 most popular devices are in the Nokia 1xxx, 2xxx and 3xxx product groups, also known as the low end. In the top 15 devices, there are only 4 smartphones, and they’re the Nokia E51, N95, E90 and N73. Those are “old” models. That 22% Symbian market share value, when broken down it’s 17% for S60 3rd Edition, 1% for S60 5th Edition (aka touch), and the rest are even older. Now I live in Helsinki, the capital, and without even trying I’ll spot 10 iPhones on my way to the supermarket, so I thought the market as a whole was more advanced.

Guess I was wrong.

[Via: Cellular News]