IDC’s third quarter figures are in on how different vendors from Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry all fared in the smartphone market this past quarter. Let’s get right to it.
Samsung shipped a total of of 56.3 million smartphones between July 1st and September 30th, up a staggering 100.4 percent from the same period last year and 12% more than Q2 2012. Apple also saw significant growth year-over-year, with shipments rising from 17.1 million to 26.9 million — a 57.3 percent increase. As a whole, smartphone shipments grew by 45.3 percent, year-over-year, rising by 56 million to reach a total of 179.7 million. Of that 56 million, two thirds can be attributed to Apple and Samsung alone.
Nokia, whose sales likely slumped due to consumer anticipation of the new Windows Phone 8 devices launching next month, was ousted from the top five smartphone players, a seat that was gladly taken by RIM, whose BB10 isn’t scheduled to launch until next year.
ZTE finished fourth in the list thanks to increased sales in North America, with HTC rounding up the top five vendors with continued uptake of its power devices.
There are a large number of handsets moving into the market as the holiday season approaches, so it will be interesting to see how the numbers stack up after this quarter.