Android rules the worldwide smartphone market when it comes to market share

Android rules the worldwide smartphone market when it comes to market share, and its dominance in China could have a lot to do with that. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, Google’s platform claimed a whopping 51.4% share of all smartphones owned in China.

That’s according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, which shows that Android’s share has grown 2.8% since the fourth quarter of 2012. And I’m sure you already know which smartphone manufacturer is driving Android adoption.

That’s right — it’s Samsung. The Korean company is the fastest-growing smartphone maker, with 15.2% of the market share. In comparison, local brands including ZTE, Lenovo, and Xiamomi hold a 20% share combined.

”Local manufacturer brands have been able to drive strong growth through bundling their handsets with carriers tariff offers, seeking out new sales channels & combining innovative product design with value to capture many first time Smartphone buyers,” said Craig Yu, Consumer Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

iOS remained “resilient” during the first quarter,” Kantar reports, with a 19.9% market share, while the dying Symbian platform — which is powering older Nokia smartphones — saw its market share decline 2% to 23%. It is believed that iOS will overtake Symbian to secure second place over the next two quarters.

Read more at http://www.cultofandroid.com/28677/more-than-half-of-all-smartphones-in-china-are-running-android/#UCYPb5jAx3VcBazV.99 

諾基亞收購Symbian大轉型, 10家業者合組Symbian Foundation, 推免費平台力抗Android

諾基亞(Nokia)宣布斥資2.64億歐元，從其他股東收購Symbian剩下約52%股權，Symbian將轉型為免授權金的開放平台，由諾基亞等10家廠商發起成立Symbian Foundation，並整合S60、UIQ及MOAP等使用介面，業界普遍認為此舉在反制Google Android平台。
Symbian共有6大股東，諾基亞已經接獲索尼愛立信(Sony Ericsson)、易利信(Ericsson)、松下行動通訊(Panasonic Mobile Communications)、西門子(Siemens)的同意書，以每股3.647歐元的價格收購Symbian股權，合計約取得91%股權，預期三星電子(Samsung Electronics)也會加入此行列。

諾基亞預期在2008年第4季完成收購，所有Symbian員工都將加入諾基亞團隊，預期2010年可望損益兩平。
諾基亞同時也宣布在100%收購Symbian之後，Symbia將轉型為開放平台，並成立Symbian Foundation，發起者包括諾基亞、樂金電子(LG Electronics)、摩托羅拉、三星、索尼愛立信等5大手機品牌、AT&T、NTT DoCoMo、Vodafone、意法半導體(STMicroelectronics)及德州儀器(Texas Instruments)，預計在2009年上半正式成立。
Symbian Foundation將打造免授權金的開放平台，由諾基亞貢獻現有的Symbian及S60軟體，索尼愛立信及摩托羅拉也宣布有意貢獻其UIQ軟體，NTT DoCoMo則有意貢獻其MOAP資產，使得Symbian Foundation得以提供共通使用介面架構的統一平台，所有會員均可在免授權金的情況下，獲取開放原始碼及完整平台，未來2年後可望推出EPL (Eclipse Public License)1.0版本。
手機業界人士表示，Google發起推廣Android平台的開放手機聯盟(Open Handset Alliance;OHA)後，業界就一直注意諾基亞的動向，儘管Symbian仍佔有絕對領先優勢，但部分手機廠商及行動營運商乃至消費者對Android平台的高度興趣，已經讓諾基亞未雨綢繆，此次下重手將Symbian轉型成免授權金的開放式平台，並獲得多家大廠支持，證明其有與Android放手一搏的決心。
Symbian在諾基亞的大力支持下，現為智慧型手機的領導平台，2008年第1季市佔率約為6成(Canalys調查)，2007年在整體手機市場拿下7%，較2006年的5%有所成長，目前為止已有8家手機廠商推出235款Symbian手機，累計出貨超過2億支，全球共有250家行動營運商採用，參與Symbian相關應用的開發人員超過400萬人。

Symbian expanding R&D team in China

2 April 2008
Symbian, after established an R&D center in August 2007 in Beijing, is expanding its R&D team in China, with the number of staff likely to reach 160 by the end of 2008 and further increase to 250-300 in 2009, according to market sources in China.
Consumers in China accounted for about 10% of the 77.3 million Symbian smartphones shipped to consumers worldwide in 2007, making China an increasingly important market for Symbian, the sources noted.
In addition, Symbian applications developed by developers in China currently account for one out of eight Symbian applications in use worldwide, the sources added.

Global smartphone shipments to top 195 million units in 2008

6 Dec, 2007

Global shipments of smartphones are expected to top 195 million units in 2008, accounting for 16% of total global handset shipments, compared to shipments of 149 million units and a ratio of 13% projected for 2007, according to an estimate by Digitimes Research.
With the increasing market size in Asia, Symbian and Microsoft both will target China and Japan to further boost their market shares in the region, said Digitimes.
According to Symbian, nine out of the 15 Symbian-based handsets launched by its handset partners in the third quarter of this year were targeting markets in Japan and China.
Accumulated sales of Symbian-based handsets in Japan have surpassed 30 million units, accounting for 72% of Japan's smartphone segment, Symbian said.
Symbian, which has set up a global R&D center in Beijing, said that 12% of global production of Symbian handsets is currently shipped to China, with Symbian-based models now accounting for 60% of China's smartphone market.
On the other hand, Microsoft is planning to set up a chain of 35 "Windows Mobile-concept" shops to promote its mobile handset solutions in China, according to market sources.
China-based Huawei Technologies and ZTE both plan to enter design-in process for the production of Windows Mobile-based smartphones in addition to Amoi Electronics, TechFaith Wireless and Lenovo who have already built up business relationships with Microsoft, the sources noted.
A total of 12 Windows Mobile-based smartphones are currently available in Japan's handset market compared to only one model in 2005, Microsoft said.

China-based Huawei and ZTE to enter global smartphone market in 2008, say sources

30 Nov, 2007

China-based Huawei Technologies and ZTE are expected to start making inroads into the global smartphone market in 2008, joining Amoi Electronics and TechFaith Wireless as new rivals to Taiwan-based smartphone vendors, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry.
Huawei is expected to launch Windows Mobile- and Symbian-based smartphones, targeting telecom service providers in Europe, said the industry sources, noting that Huawei may also push sales of own-brand smartphones to other markets.
Huawei has been shipping 3G mobile phones to Vodafone with total shipments already exceeding 800,000 units, the sources indicated. In addition, Huawei is also a supplier of 3G data cards for more than 150 telecom service providers around the globe.
ZTE has ventured into the development of Linux- and Windows Mobile-based smartphones, the sources indicated, noting that ZTE has established business relationships with Vodafone, Hutchison Telecom and BT, and the company is also a leading provider of CDMA handsets in India.