Smart phones were shipped worldwide in the first
quarter than feature phones for the first time. More than half (51.6%) the
total of 418.6 million handsets shipped were smart phones, signalling how conventional
more complicated devices have become in many parts of the world.
Smartphone increase rose more than 41 percent in the
first quarter, but fell about 5 percent from the last three months of 2012.
"Phone users want computers in their pockets. The
days where phones are used mostly to make phone calls and send text messages
are quickly fading away," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement.
"As a result, the balance of Smartphone power has shifted to phone makers
that are most needy on smart phones."
"A year ago, it was ordinary to see previous market
leaders Nokia, BlackBerry (then Research in Motion) and HTC among the top
five,” said Ramon Llamas, a research manager with IDC. “While those companies
have been in various stages of transformation since, Chinese vendors, including
Huawei and ZTE as well as Coolpad and Lenovo, have made considerable strides to
capture new users with their respective Android smart phones."
Increasingly, those companies are looking beyond their
home market. With a target of boosting Smartphone proceeds by 30% this year,
ZTE aims to grow in North America and Europe. It will also be one of the first
handset makers to introduce a Firefox-powered Smartphone this year, according
to IDC.
Cellphone pioneer Motorola
Mobility, a U.S. company now owned by Google, has stumbled through the
transition as well, while Apple Inc. has become the world's third-largest maker
of cellphones, less than six years after launching the first iPhone. Samsung
and Apple are the top makers of smart phones. LG Electronics Inc. of South
Korea; HTC Corp. of Taiwan; and ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies Ltd. of China
jostle for the No. 3 position.
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