Smartphone sales up almost 80 per cent

Smartphone sales continue to climb, despite the market undergoing a series of major shifts, according to new figures from IDC.

The research firm's worldwide quarterly report logged an estimated 99.6 million smartphone sales over the first quarter of the year, an increase of 79.7 per cent over the same period in 2010.

IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas said that the smartphone market is currently in a "perfect storm", as people look to adopt new handsets, while vendors are increasingly looking to add features and drop prices as they move from high-end to lower-end markets.

Nokia retained the top spot with strong sales in the EMEA and Asia/Pacific regions, logging 24.2 million sales and a 24.3 per cent market share.

IDC warned, however, that the decision to move from Symbian to Windows Phone could hurt the company in the future.

One of the vendors that could see benefits from a struggling Nokia is Apple, which claimed the second spot in the quarterly report.

IDC noted that Apple is slowly beginning to gain ground on Nokia, shipping an estimated 18.7 million handsets on the quarter for an 18.7 per cent market share.

Completing the top five were RIM, which claimed a 13.9 per cent share, Samsung with 10.8 per cent and HTC with 8.9 per cent.

IDC senior research analyst Kevin Restivo explained that Google's Android platform is beginning to reshape much of the smartphone market.

"The rise of Android as a prominent mobile operating system has allowed several suppliers to gain share quickly," he said.

"Also, the relatively nascent state of smartphone adoption globally means there is ample room for several suppliers to comfortably co-exist, at least for the short term."