IDC reported today that worldwide smartphone shipments grew 79.7 percent year over year in Q1 2011. 99.6 million smartphones were shipped compared to a ‘mere’ 55.4 million in Q1 2010.
“Conditions in the smartphone market are creating a perfect storm for sustained smartphone growth,” says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. “First, vendors are increasingly emphasizing smartphones as the key to their own growth. Second, selection has proliferated from mostly high-end devices to include more mid-range and entry-level offerings. Third, pricing has become increasingly competitive, with even high-end devices available at low price points. Finally, users continue to seek greater utility from their mobile phone beyond voice, and smartphones have been the ideal solution. Altogether, these add up to continued smartphone growth throughout the year.”
The top five vendors are now: Nokia (with its market share plunging to 24.3 percent despite a 12 percent increase in shipments), Apple (with a 18.7 market share and 114 percent shipment increase), Research In Motion (14.0 percent market share and 31.1 percent shipment increase), Samsung (10.8 percent market share and an industry leading 350 percent shipment increase), and HTC (8.9 percent market share and 229.6 percent shipment increase).
Could Apple become the largest smartphone vendor sometime this year?