New statistics from comScore showed that a mammoth 82.2 million people owned a Smartphone in the US as of July 2011, representing a 10% increase from April 2011. Google is the market leader with 41.8% of the market share, an increase in 5.4% since April. Apple follows Google with 27% of the market share, an increase in 1% since April.
In contrast, RIM, Microsoft and Nokia have continued to lose ground on their rivals. RIM’s BlackBerry market share dropped from 25.7% to 21.7% in three months and Microsoft also experience a drop in their Smartphone market share from 6.7% to 5.7%. Nokia’s Symbian Operating System evaporated from 2.3% to 1.9%.
What does the future hold?
Here is a quick roundup of the latest Smartphone news and what lies ahead in the coming months for the major players in the market.
In the past month Google purchased Motorola for $12.5 billion, showing the company’s ambition to take its investment in the mobile market to the next level.
Google’s acquisition of Motorola is significant in more ways than one. Owning a handset manufacturer opens the way for Google to follow Apple’s profitable lead in controlling the software, hardware and content on its devices. It also gives Google access to a range of technology patents which it can use to defend against action by its industrial rivals.
Google’s Android operating system is a relatively new player in the mobile space. It has left Google behind in the patent game and left the company open to legal action from Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and other companies. In particular, the company has been locked in a legal battle with Microsoft since October 2010. In contrast, Motorola holds 17,000 issued patents worldwide and has another 7,500 patents in progress. The acquisition has not left Google immune to company patents, but it does have a better patent defence than Google on its own.
Apple
Apple will be looking to strengthen their position in the Smartphone market with the imminent release of the iPhone 5 on the horizon. It is predicted that the device will be available within the next couple of months with exciting new features, including Android’s drop down menu style notification. Although Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, everyone is getting excited about the launch of the iPhone 5, so watch this space for the latest news!
RIM
Earlier this month, Research in motion (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry Smartphone launched three new phones worldwide in order to try and win back share from Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone. All phones will run RIM’s new BlackBerry 7 operating system, the next generation from the existing BB6 operating system. RIM has been gradually losing its market share over the past two years to Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iPhone, especially in the US, once its largest market. But the company has been gaining shares in other continents, most notably Europe, China and parts of Africa.
RIM’s custom base is split roughly 50-50 between business and personal customers, where the general Smartphone market is split 30-70. Essentially, the consumer market is larger, which has created problems for RIM in expanding its customer base, as the iPhone and Android phone having proved more popular with the first wave of consumer Smartphones.
The three new Smartphone devices are: BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930: Features QWERTY keyboards. BlackBerry Torch 9810: Features touch display and slide-out keyboard. Blackberry Torch 9850 and 9860: Features a 3.7in all-touch display.
The new BlackBerry 7 operating system is claimed to be 40% faster than the BlackBerry 6 Operating system and up to 100% faster than the BlackBerry 5 Operating System. The displays also feature “Liquid Graphics” technology with a high pixel density of more than 250dpi. Some business may hold off from committing to the new devices as RIM is expected to bring its products into line with the release of Smartphones using their QNX operating system next year
Windows and Nokia
Shares in Nokia and RIM jumped in the wake of the Google-Motorola announcement. The reason behind this is that beleaguered mobile giants are seen as ripe acquisition targets for companies like Microsoft. Nokia has tied its future fortunes to Microsoft’s Window Phone ship, so there is the definite potential for Microsoft to complete the takeover of Nokia sometime in the near future!
The Smartphone market is unpredictable, making it difficult to forecast what will happen in the mobile market over the next few years. Market research firm IDC predicts that the Windows Phone will overtake iOS by 2015; however we find this very unlikely. At present, Google and Apple remain top dogs in the Smartphone market and it looks set to continue that way for the immediate future.
No comments:
Post a Comment