Q3 earnings reports have been pouring in over the past few days, which means it's time to check in withIDC on the state of the mobile market. The research firm's latest report, released today, is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Q3 global shipments increased by 12.8 percent year-over-year -- higher than the 9.3 percent that IDC had predicted for the quarter and the 9.8 percent growth observed last quarter. At the same time, however, the market grew at the second slowest pace in two years and shipments to Western Europe and the US actually declined over the year, something the company attributes to more restrained consumer spending and more widespread economic uncertainty.
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On the company level, both Samsung and ZTE came away as the biggest winners this quarter; Sammy's shipments increased by 23 percent over the year, good for second place, while ZTE's shot up by a whopping 57.9 percent, launching the company into fourth place. Apple, meanwhile, saw 26.2 percent growth in its shipments and a slight bump in market share, but still couldn't avoid getting leapfrogged by ZTE and dropping down to fifth place. And then there's LG, which had by far the worst quarter, relative to Q3 2010. The manufacturer saw shipments decline by nearly 26 percent over the year, while its market share slipped to 5.4 percent. All these horses, however, are still chasing Nokia, which saw a small drop in shipments, but managed to hang on to the top spot, with over 106 million shipments during the quarter -- good for 27 percent of the market. For more numbers and insight, check out the full PR after the break.
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When you track smartphone brands by unit shipments between Q3 2008 and Q3 2011, it's not surprising to see Nokia's market share taking a nosedive beginning with Q4 2010. Apple's share of the smartphone market really began to take off after Q2 2010. Samsung's share of the smartphone market also began to take off after Q2 2010, and could be in the top spot through Q3 2011. Surprisingly, RIM's share of the smartphone market appears to have stablized through Q3 2011.
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Here's the comparison of changes in market share by manufacturer for the same period.
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Courtesy of an article dated October 28, 2011 appearing in Engadget and an article dated October 28, 2011 appearing in All About Symbian.com
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