The analyst firms of Gartner and RBC Capital Markets have provided us with updated insights into how well the various mobile platform players are performing as of late. According to Gartner’s recent report on mobile device sales in Q1 2011, smartphone market share is rapidly increasing, up 85% year-over-year to account for 23.6% of all sales this quarter.
Of particular interest to mobile developers are the trends surrounding smartphones. The two major players, iOS and Android, continue to dominate smartphone OS wars, Gartner says. Meanwhile, Windows Phone has seen only “modest sales” so far, although that may change soon thanks to the Nokia partnership.
In a separate report, RBC details how another notable industry player is doing with its latest launch – that being RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer. Surprisingly, it appears the PlayBook is outselling Motorola’s Honeycomb tablet, the Xoom.
Android, Apple Remain Strong
Gartner says that Samsung, a popular brand for Android-based devices, had its strongest first quarter ever, thanks in part to its Galaxy phones and tablets, but also to its new bada-based device, the Wave 578.
HTC, another maker of Android phones, remained strong, with 9.3 million devices sold this quarter. It also achieved the number seven position in terms of sales to end users.
Apple, as usual, performed very well, with growth Gartner dubbed as “market-beating” – 16.9 million devices sold worldwide, and more than doubling its sales of iPhones year-over-year. It’s still the fourth largest brand in the mobile communications market, the firm says.
Nokia, despite shipping 107.6 million units in Q1, saw its market share decline 5.5% year-over-year, to reach its lowest point yet since 1997. To counter that trend, the handset maker will aggressively lower its average selling price in certain markets to maintain Symbian shipments while waiting for its first Windows Phone devices to arrive, says Garnter.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone is in need of Nokia’s help, it seems, too, as Gartner reported only “modest sales” for the new OS, to the tune of 1.6 million units in Q1 2011.
PlayBook Outsells Xoom
Elsewhere, RBC Capital Markets’ General Manager Mike Abramsky told investors this week that he believes RIM has sold approximately 250,000 PlayBook tablets since its April 19 launch. This, notes mobile blog BGR, means the PlayBook is outselling Motorola’s Android-based tablet, the Xoom. It took the Xoom two months to reach 250,000 units, BGR says. In addition, Abramsky thinks RIM could sell 500,000 units during its first quarter of availability alone.
