iPhone WW Market Share Leaps 246% in 2008

Gartner has released its "Market Share: Smartphones, Worldwide, 4Q08 and 2008" report, and the results show for platforms that Symbian remains at the top, with RIM's BlackBerry OS a distant second, but the devil is in the details.

For one thing, while (top, above) Symbian maintained its lead, it lost 6.1% overall during 2008, while the BlackBerry OS gained 97% and Apple's iPhone jumped nearly 246%. In Q4 2008 alone (above) Symbian lost 21.6% vs. Q4 2007.

However, the iPhone couldn't maintain the pace it set after launching in June of 2008, with Gartner saying:

Vendors like Samsung, RIM, HTC and Apple saw their volumes and share increase during 2008, thanks to their ability to offer compelling device experiences and touch interfaces. On the other hand, Nokia's saw its smartphone sales decline by 17% and this also contributed to the overall weakness of the global smartphone segment in 4Q08, as the company commands 41% of this market.

Apple's initial sell through dropped off significantly as sales fell during the quarter. With Apple’s decline, volume was driven by successful new product introductions such as the RIM Storm at Verizon Wireless and the T-Mobile G1, the first product in this region based on Google’s Android platform.

So, despite the attraction and public sentiment for the iPhone, it sounds like new product introductions bit into its sales. Apple had better hope that the iPhone 3.0 OS introduction later this year and perhaps the next-generation iPhone (if such exists this year) boosts sales.

On the other hand, they really have nothing to worry about. Compare this to Palm, which Gartner commented on:

Palm had a difficult quarter as volume declined significantly. The Centro has become a dated product and Palm must not be late on its new Pre product for Sprint. Palm and Sprint must also price the product appropriately. It would be difficult for the product to experience widespread success at a price point higher than the $199 retail price point occupied by key consumer focused smartphones such as the Apple iPhone, RIM Storm and T-Mobile G1, which is slightly lower at $179.