Regardless of which OS has been taking the lead within the smartphone sales, be it Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Symbian, or webOS, a recent study by IDC has shown that the smartphone market is booming. Global smartphone saless over the course of 2010 rose 74% from 2009, totaling 302.6 million. In Q4 2010 alone, 100.9 million smartphones were shipped, which was 87.2% higher than the same time last year. Symbian^3 and Windows Phone made a decent entrance this year, with Nokia selling 5 million units running the new OS, and Microsoft shipping 1.5 million through its various manufacturing partners. You can see more of the specifics above, which give Nokia the first place prize, followed by RIM, Apple, Samsung, and HTC.
These smartphone sales figures match up nicely with some that Strategy Analytics released last week, and reminds us that despite a lack of popularity in North America, Nokia is still the boss in the grand scheme of things. That gap between Apple and RIM is very small, and given their continued momentum, Stevie thinks the iPhone won’t have a problem winning out in the end. Samsung and HTC are showing excellent growth thanks in no small part to Android. Samsung has shot out ahead of HTC, which this time last year was without a doubt the top-end Android manufacturer. It’ll be interesting to see if they can turn that around in 2011, or if Samsung can hold onto its spot.
For more info on the study, hit up IDC.