A total of 81 million smartphones were sold worldwide during the third quarter. Symbian phones still lead with 29.5 units sold, but Android is a solid second with 20.5 million units sold.
According to Gartner, Android has taken 25.5 percent of the smartphone market in just one year. A year ago, Android had only 3.5 percent of the smartphone market. Symbian still leads with 36.6 percent of the market, down from 44.6 percent in the third quarter last year.
– The gap between Symbian and Android will continue to decrease during the end of the year in connection with the Christmas sales. However, Symbian will maintain its lead thanks to cheaper prices, and Android phones will probably be affected by a shortage of components, says Carolina Milanesi at Gartner.
Apple’s iPhone came in third place in the third quarter with 13.5 million units sold, almost doubling from the same period last year. However, Apple’s total market share fell from 17.1 percent to 16.7 percent during the third quarter of the year.
Total mobile phone sales, which include both smartphones and conventional mobile phones, totaled 417 million units in the third quarter. An increase of 35 percent compared to last year.
The five largest mobile phone manufacturers in the world are Nokia, Samsung, LG, Apple and RIM (Blackberry).
IDG News