Nokia’s Lead in China Slips as Apple and Samsung Munch Market Share

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Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is losing out to Samsung and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the Chinese smartphone market, reflecting a global trend for the once dominate smartphone supplier. In the third quarter of 2011, Nokia maintained its position as top supplier for the Chinese smartphone market with 6.8 million units shipped, or 28.5% of the market, but Samsung is closing fast with 4.2 million units shipped, or 17.6% of the market, according to Strategy Analytics.

“Nokia held the no.1 position, but Samsung and Apple are chasing hard,” commented Strategy Analytics analyst Linda Sui. “If China Telecom launches a CDMA iPhone 4S early next year, then we expect Apple’s share to spike further. HTC and Sony Ericsson were the big share gainers this quarter as their Android models captured shelfshare in major cities of east and south China,” she added.

Overall, China overtook the United States as the world’s largest smartphone market, reaching 24 million units shipped in the third quarter, compared with 23 million units in the U.S. market, according to Strategy Analytics figures.

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Tom Kang, a director at Strategy Analytics, observed that “China’s rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE.”

Nokia Plummets in Global Smartphone Market

Nokia has seen its global smartphone shipments drop as well, from 26.5 million units, or 32.7% of the global market in the third quarter of 2010, to 16.8 million units, or only 14.4% of the market, in the same quarter this year, according to global figures from Strategy Analytics.

This compares with Samsung’s rise to the top position, increasing from 7.5 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2010, or 9.3% of the market, to 27.8 million units shipped, or 23.8% of the market, in the third quarter of this year.

By contrast, Apple has stagnated in the global smartphone market, dropping from 17.4% of market share in the third quarter of 2010 to 14.6% in the same quarter this year, although its smartphone shipments actually increased from 14.1 million units shipped to 17.1 million units shipped over the same time period.

Nokia is hoping its partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will stem its precipitous decline in the global smartphone market. Nokia has already begun to ship its Nokia Lumia 800 using the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system, replacing its Symbian OS, in Europe, with shipments to the United States expected in 2012.
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