Nokia dominates European smartphone market

 

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By Asavin Wattanajantra

Posted on 19 Aug 2008 at 15:01

Nokia holds a a near 75% share of the European smartphone market, but competing vendors are catching up, according to a report by Canalys.

The second quarter of 2008 saw shipments reach 12.6 million, with Nokia staking claim to an impressive 71.2% of the market. However, the number still represents a slip from the 79.7% figure recorded in 2007.

The decrease principally benefited rivals such as RIM, HTC, Motorola and Samsung, with the latter three more than doubling their shipments, according to Canalys. Apple is also expected to push its way into the group, overtaking HTC and RIM in Q3 following the iPhone 3G's release.

According to the firm, while smartphone shipments are still growing, the manufacturers need to be wary of consumer dissatisfaction over battery life.

"People are wary of draining their battery and not being able to make calls. Battery life isn't helped by having GPS and Wi-Fi turned on, nor having a large, bright screen for web browsing," says Pete Cunningham, Canalys senior analyst.

"But there is a clear demand for those features and applications, and advances in battery technology would enable quite substantial changes in usage patterns, with all the service revenue benefits that would bring."