Nokia grabs 40% of phone market for first time

Apple's iPhone may have been the most talked-about handset during the final quarter of 2007, but its sales were dwarfed by the majors in a period that saw Nokia grab more than 40 per cent of the global market, the first time it's done so. According to market watcher Strategy Analytics, Apple shifted 2.3m iPhones worldwide …

[Anonymous Coward]

Bit of perspective...

Remember, Apple are a completely new player to this market, with only a single model phone unlike the other makers who have a large range, and who have also been in the market for several years to several decades now.

Apple's iPhone is also pitched at a certain section of the market, the Smartphone market, which i'm pretty sure is probably the smallest part of the overall phone market share. That said if they lower the price on the iPhone it will greatly advantage them.

Sony going PSP Phones is actually not -too- far off what is sort of happening with them now offering Skype for PSP Lites. Sony Ericsson phones took a lot of market share from Nokia, but I think some less than reliable models from Sony Ericsson and some strong new models from Nokia have resulted in a reverse swing back to Nokia.

I'm surprised Motorola is still selling as many as they do, they make some okay phones, but aside from the RAZR products its not often to see a standout product from them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Model to model comparison

"Apple's iPhone... sales were dwarfed by the majors".

Well, Apple's one model was dwarfed by Nokia's combined sales of what, 10 or 20 models of handsets?

It would be very interesting to see a breakdown of sales by model to get a genuine comparison. The iPhone would be low down, sure, but I'd like to see by how much.

[Andy]

I'd be interested to see...

...the sales figures for individual models. Didn't Apple say they wanted a 1% share in the market?

[jai]

apple's target

wasn't Apple's target figure to have achieved 1% of market share within a year?

and you're saying that in 6 months, they've achieved 0.6%?

so they're ahead of the curve then

[Urs Keller]

The only figure that's important is $$$

From what I can see, these market share figures are based on the number of phones shipped.

Question: How many 100$-handsets do Nokia/Moto/... have to sell to get them the margin of 1 (one) iPhone?

Please note: Apple is in the business to make PROFIT, not to conquer the world.

[Chad H.]

ElRegPhone

since every man+dog is rumoured to be bringing out a phone, can we get some leaks on the ElRegPhone? Is it true that it will contain a taser for all our bofh-y fantasies... I'd blend my iPhone for that.

[Miles Hipkin]

Chad, is that you?!

I agree on the ElRegPhone, surely missing a niche here guys?

That you Chad? How ya keeping?

[Bruno Girin]

@jai

I'm not sure Apple are ahead of the curve. Everybody who ever wanted an iPhone probably has one by now. So if they want to achieve 1% market share in a year, they will probably have to come up with new models. Then again, 0.6% for a single model that is more expensive that the competition, doesn't have 3G and is linked to a given network is quite remarkable.

[Insane Reindeer]

@Urs Keller

So if Apple are only in the business to make to money then what do you think Nokia are thinking about a profit of €8 billion ($11.66 billion/£5.98 Billion) on a turnover of €51billion? I think you will find that EVERYONE is in the business to make PROFIT! Being the market leader means you just make a bit more than the rest surely...

[Mage]

Windows Mobile

I told people last April that I thought Windows Mobile had passed it's peak.

Isn't HTC the biggest Windows Mobile vendor and they are some place between LG and Apple?

@jai Apple's Target.

Biggest volume of iPhone is near launch time. I think even Apple expect shipments to drop the rest of the year. Also China isn't going to happen for them.

Profit:

Nokia don't have to sell many e-Series or N95 class phones...

If I do a Linux phone I'll make sure Java apps for Nokia phones run on it.

[Anonymous Coward]

RE

'Apple is in the business to make PROFIT, not to conquer the world.'

Has somebody told Steve this?

[Charlie Clark]

so lala

0.6% or 2.2 million (and 1 million of those in the first month)

Given the prices being charged it's a nice trip to the bank for Apple but not much is going to happen until they bring MK II (UMTS but probably 1 gen behind the rest) or even MK III (with the real keyboard). Outside of the US the sales must be disappointing especially for the bum-fucked OpCo's who've been stupid enough to go along with Apple's strategy.

Apple is happy being a niche player but that is difficult in this market where understanding how to get the most out of the chips and having a good relationship with component providers is essential.

[Hans Mustermann]

Well, let's put it in another perspective, though

Well, while Apple probably didn't do too shabby on the whole, surely we're at least allowed to have a jolly good chuckle at the fanboy hype that's been surrounding the iPhone. If you listened to some fanboys, the iPhone was supposed to revolutionize the market, obsolete traditional phones in one fell swoop, show Nokia at all how it's done, and have Nokia and all wishing they had invented that interface and/or rush to copy it on all their phones.

It turns out that there was a reason why Nokia and the gang hadn't already done that: because it's a niche. They already know how to do touch-screens. They'd still rather do the kind of stuff most people buy.

Yes, kudos to Apple for finding its niche, but let's not pretend that it's anything else.

Nokia _won't_ cry itself to sleep, wishing it could trade its 40% market share for Apple's 0.6%. Even if Apple could have higher profit margins, Nokia is still making a higher profit out of their phones. Some simple maths say that, 40/0.6=66.7. Even if Nokia made 66 times less profit per phone than Apple did with theirs, they still end up ahead. If Nokia made only 6$ profit per phone sold, Apple would have to make a whole 400$ profit per iPhone to equal that.

Economies of scale tend to work that way.

[Rob Munn]

fruitPhone has hit its peak

The fruitPhone is an expensive consumer toy. The press may rave about the genius of Jobs, but mid-market consumers just aren't going to shell out that kind of money for the product.

I have a WM 6 phone (HTC Titan/xv6800). It was about the same price as an iPhone, but it has 1 Mbps broadband, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microSD, productivity apps, technical apps, Flash support, and loads of 3rd party software due to the PDA/phone crossover market.

If Apple wants to break 1%, they need something other than a cool niche product. I would consider buying a fruitPhone if it did all the stuff other phones at its price level do, and I don't mean scrolling the address book with a finger flick.

[Shonko Kid]

>the mountain the Mac maker has to climb to start matching its competitors' sales

Surely even the most delusional of Jobs' fanboys (Jobbies?!?) can't honestly believe Apple will ever have a market share to match the likes of even Samsung or LG. They're a one model shop, where the market is filled with dozens of niches and price points, a market the likes of Nokia have succeeded in playing very well.

Still, they've shifted more than I had expected, which is just as well really, since it seems that small, mp3-playing, handsets are beginning to eat into the iPod market.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Bruno Girin

Totally agree, 0.6% market share for a phase 1 model which, even though I love it,it is expensive, and as all the critics are at panes to point out, lacks some of the almost standard features by todays standards, is very good indeed. However to say that everyone who wants one will have one by now is probably not true. There are still many like myself who are locked in to contracts which,as mine does, will lsat well in to the summer. So I still see a steady stream of sales for at least six months yet. There are also rumors of 3G iphone arriving this year, which my also be what some are waiting on. I think by the end of this year iphone sales will be higher than apples' intended 1%. The biggest threat to the iphone is the impending and inevitable recession which is likely to take grip over the spring/summer.

[John]

goodbye Moto?

According to the Reg, Motorola's KRAZR was supposed to be good, but that was by what used to be called Sendo. My mum never liked her SLVR L7 and I would have broke it in two if it was mine (bad screen, nasty UI). She is now on a tasty looking Nokia 6300. I would like a new phone, but my k750i is still going strong and even though I'm not an enviroMENTAList, I'd rather not get rid of a perfectly good phone.

Halo for steve if the 3rd gen iPhone is good, cos I might get it.

[HKmk23]

Nokia is going t**s up

Forget it

no one is going to but a phone anymore where you have to be dyslexic to use it.

the iphone is what we all wanted

[Anonymous Coward]

Al wanted

The iPhone is what we all wanted. 2 years ago maybe. I bought my N73 about a year before the iFone came out, and it still beats the iFone on spec. So it's got a touch screen, so what?