Last issue, we reported that according to Canalys Research (May 3), global smartphone shipments jumped 67 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Two weeks later, iSuppli (May 17) ranked the world’s top 10 mobile phone (so, smartphones AND feature phones) companies in the quarter, also based on total shipments. Finally, on May 19, Gartner ranked the top-selling mobile phone brands for the same quarter.

 

What’s most intriguing about comparing the three lists is looking at how much growth smartphone makers like Research In Motion (RIM), Apple and HTC experienced compared to predominantly feature phone-strong manufacturers like Nokia and Samsung. The latter appear to remain more globally dominant right now, since smartphones are still the minority worldwide: 17.3 percent of all mobile phones sold in the first quarter, according to Gartner. Still, it’s a 3.7 percent increase year-over-year, up from 13.6 percent in the same period of 2009.

 

iSuppli says smartphones are having a revolutionary impact on the wireless business. “RIM and Apple in the first quarter rose to the fifth and sixth position in the global market for all types of cellphones, while Motorola fell to eighth place,” wrote iSuppli analyst Tina Teng (May 17).

 

BlackBerry-maker RIM achieved the highest growth in the quarter, with shipments going up 3.6 percent over the fourth quarter of 2009. In fact, RIM and Apple were the only brands among the top 10 to experience sequential quarterly growth, from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010.

 

Comparing iSuppli’s top 10 list based on a) market share and b) sequential quarterly growth better illustrates the remarkable impact of smartphone adoption over the six-month period: