iPhone maker, Apple has reclaimed its title of world’s largest smartphone maker for the year 2011 as the global shipments continued its northward journey last year, according to a research.
Strategy Analytics, a global research and consulting firm which said this in its recently released research paper, said, “Apple was the star performer, capturing a record 8 per cent market share worldwide during the quarter. Full-year handset shipments reached 1.6 billion units globally in 2011, with annual growth of 14 per cent.”
Alex Spektor, associate director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Despite continued macroeconomic difficulties in major markets like Western Europe, global handset shipments grew a reasonable 11 per cent annually to reach 445 million units in Q4 2011. Apple was the star performer, shipping 37.0 million iPhones worldwide and capturing a highest-ever 8 per cent market share.”
Apple’s growth was fueled by intense demand for its refreshed iPhone 4S, as well as the availability of three generations of iPhones at a variety of price points at operators like AT&T in the United States, he added.
However, Finnish handset maker Nokia has witnessed a declined in its global handset shipments in 2011. According to the research, Nokia’s handsets shipment dropped by 8 per cent annually to 113.5 million units in Q4 (October-December) in 2011.
“Volumes were buoyed by the sales of Nokia’s low-end Dual-SIM models in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, but were a little soft overall, as initial shipments of Microsoft Lumia phones could not offset declining Symbian sales. Hot on Nokia’s heels, second-ranked Samsung captured 21 per cent share with shipments of 95.0 million units. Samsung’s 18 percent annual growth was fueled by robust shipments of its broad Galaxy-branded 3G portfolio, headlined by the Galaxy S2 superphone,” Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, added.
In the Indian context, Nokia continues to be the No 1 handset maker with a shre of 28 per cent. Not only Nokia maintains its grip over the feature phone market, but it is also leading in the dual SIM segment in which it entered only in 2011, according to a latest Cybermedia research report. To read the full report, click here.