Global smartphone shipments surge to 77 million units

The latest research from US-based Strategy Analytics says global smartphone shipments grew by 78 percent annually to reach a record 77 million units in the third quarter of 2010.

The report, published on the website of Strategic Analytics, indicates that Nokia is still leading with 26.5 million smartphones shipped over the period, but that is only 34.4 percent of the total, which represents a fall from 38.8 per cent over the same period last year.

Apple was the star performer, as it overtook manufacturers of Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM) and closed the gap on Nokia placing second with 14.1 million smartphones shipped represent 18.3 per cent of the total, an increase from 14.4 per cent last year.

RIM fell third with 12.4 million smartphones shipped over the period, representing 16.1 per cent of the total.

RIM continues to be hampered by a limited presence in the high-growth touchscreen segment and consequently its global smartphone marketshare has edged down from 20 percent to 16 percent during the past 12 months.

Other phone manufacturers shipped an aggregate of 24.l million smartphones, representing 31.3 per cent of the total.

Director at Strategy Analytics, Neil Mawston was quoted as saying this is the industry’s fastest growth rate since the mid-2000s.

He, however, noted that the surging volumes are placing heavy demands on component suppliers and moderate shortages of select components are emerging ahead of the fourth quarter.

Samuel Dowuona