Apple’s iPhone losses market share
by Paul Ruppert
Man Bites Dog!
Apple, Motoroloa and Sony Ericsson have lost market share in Q1 08 according to figures released by Strategy Analytics on Monday. Those regions–often overlooked in the mind of the western trade press blog media–such as Asia and Africa drove the surge in growth, compensating for sluggish demand in developed regions of North America and Western Europe. Seems a pesky recession in the west is crawling out of the swamp.
Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Apple suffered downturns. Motorola and Sony Ericsson lost marketshare to rivals with stronger handset portfolios, such as LG and Samsung, while Apple has been hit by stock outs in North America and lackluster demand for its overpriced iPhone in Western Europe.” Although global mobile handset shipments grew a strong 14 per cent year on year, to reach 282 million units the first quarter, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Apple all lost market share to stronger–Korean–competitors.
The iPhone saw global shipments fall sharply, from 2.3 million units in the fourth quarter of last year to 1.7 million units in the first quarter of 2008. This resulted in the first decline in the company’s market share, which dropped from 0.7 per cent to 0.6 per cent. (Then again 75% of it’s time in the market has been up and to the right.)
Third placed Motorola suffered yet more woes as its market share dropped sharply from 12.4 per cent in the previous quarter to 9.7 per cent in the first quarter. While Sony Ericsson experienced a decline from 9.4 per cent to 7.9 per cent.
Market leader Nokia continued at a slow and steady growth pace, increasing its market share from 40.6 per cent to 40.9 per cent. While Mawston said that 2008 is shaping up to be the year of the Koreans, with improved handset portfolios enabling LG to grow at almost four times the annual industry average, while Samsung is growing over two times faster.
LG boosted its share from 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter to 8.6 per cent in the first quarter, while Samsung jumped from 14.1 per cent to 16.4 per cent.
I’ve been observing the Korean handset manufacturers for three years now, including personally using both a Samsung and LG device for three out of the last four years. Their interface, functionality and stylish accesorizing has established a strong position in the market place which will continue to grow and solidify. The numbers don’t lie. iPhone may be the buzz of the glib technorati, but the reality is in the billions of revenues produced from the middle of the curve.
