There’s no question that smartphones are growing in popularity. Between Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone devices, smartphones have never before reached such a broad extent of adaptation across the globe.
Mobile technology firm Juniper Research estimates that the number of smartphone shipments reached 230 million in Q2 2013, an increase year over year of almost 50 percent and an increase of 13 percent from the previous quarter. A great deal of this growth came from Samsung, which shipped an estimated 72 million smartphones in the quarter, accounting for roughly 31% of all those shipped.
Overall sales have slowed for the South Korean company, however, including sales of its Galaxy S 4, which sold 20 million units as of July 3.
Apple iPhone sales grew by 20% to more than 31 million, but year over year profits fell for the second consecutive quarter. A quarter over quarter decline in sales also hit the company, as sales in Q2 were down 17 percent compared to Q1 2013. This caused the company’s share of the smartphone market to slip from 18 percent in Q1 to 14 percent in Q2. It’s safe to say that Apple needs to bring out a truly innovative device soon in order to stay competitive.
The Windows Phone OS has also seen significant growth, as Nokia shipped 11.7 million smartphones in the fourth quarter and posted Lumia sales of 7.4 million compared to 5.6 million in the previous quarter. The company also shipped 4.3 million Asha smartphones in the second quarter. The company’s Lumia 520 device has won the mantle for the most popular Windows Phone device and continues to sell very well.
While there aren’t any hard numbers yet due to BlackBerry‘s financial schedule difference, the company is expected to ship only 6.9 million smartphones in Q2 2013, 2.8 million of which are BlackBerry 10 devices.