Apple Passes RIM; Now 4th Largest Phone Vendor

Apple only entered the cell phone market in 2007 but it didn't take long for the company to make a name for itself with the iPhone. Now, three years later, Apple has officially passed BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion to become the number four phone vendor worldwide. RIM currently sits at number five on the list.



IDC says that Apple is only second smartphone-only vendor to make it to the top five – the first being RIM, which has been on the list for three quarters.

"The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market. Moreover, the mobile phone makers that are delivering popular smartphone models are among the fastest growing firms," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker.

"Vendors that aren't developing a strong portfolio of smartphones will be challenged to maintain and grow market share in the future."

And indeed Kevin is right. Number one on the list is the struggling Finnish manufacturer Nokia. Once the biggest name in the industry, Nokia is floundering when it comes to producing great smartphones, and IDC reports that while the company had 36.5 percent of the market for this quarter last year, it dropped to 32.4 percent this year.

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"Nokia still leads all vendors by a significant margin for converged mobile devices and mobile phones as a whole," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

"However, Nokia's grip on the traditional mobile phone market has been somewhat loosened, as multiple Chinese vendors have gained ground, especially within emerging markets. To bolster its overall competitiveness, Nokia has been focused on improving its smartphone offerings."

Also suffering is Sony Ericsson, which dropped off the leader-board for the first time since the list was conceived in 2004. Despite missing its Q32010 targets, LG placed third in the top five. Samsung doubled the number of smartphone shipments from the previous quarter, and pushed through the 70 million unit mark for the first time in company history. Though Apple passed it, RIM also did well. The company posted record unit shipments for the quarter and is up from 2.9 percent marketshare in Q309 to 3.6 percent this year.