Which Samartphone Should You Be Developing An App For? Think Again…

From the report:

Note: For HTC, Gartner counts only the company's own-branded devices, including the G1.Note: Totals may not add to 100.0 percent due to rounding. Source: Gartner (November 2009)

“Smartphones continued to represent the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market and we remain confident about the potential for smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2009 and in 2010,” said Ms Milanesi.

Nokia’s share of the worldwide smartphone market reached an all time low in the third quarter of 2009 at 39 per cent, compared with 45 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 (see Table 2). This decline caused Symbian to lose ground too, while Research In Motion reached 20 per cent share, its highest yet. RIM’s sales volumes rested on the Curve 8900 in Europe and the Tour and Storm 2 with Verizon Wireless in the US. RIM also focused on pre-paid sales and more flexible BlackBerry Internet Service offerings, which helped to drive volumes in emerging markets like Latin America.

Apple’s worldwide smartphone share reached 17 per cent as iPhone sales totalled 7 million units in the third quarter of 2009 following the continued rollout of the iPhone 3GS in new countries. Its ASP is holding steady and sales in the fourth quarter should be even stronger as Apple starts selling in China, through one additional carrier in the UK, and in an additional 16 countries.

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market,Android picked up momentum but with only a handful of Android devices available, its share remained modest at 3.5 per cent. Windows Mobile 6.5 only became available in October, too late to have an impact on the third quarter, so sales of Windows-based smartphones saw another decline.

"Manufacturers should work to differentiate their user interfaces by creating distinct ways of organising users’ information and services," said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner. “However, they need to be careful to maintain application compatibility.”

“Mobile phone vendors must invest in their smartphone portfolios to benefit from the fastest-growing segment of the market and that which is most resistant to low ASPs,” Ms Milanesi said. “They should also focus on winning developers and carrier support which will both attract users.”

Additional information is in the Gartner report "Competitive Landscape: Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 3Q09." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1224635