BlackBerry Distant Third Behind Apple and Android In Global Smartphone Market

By: Talha Bhatti  |   September 24th, 2012   |   Android, Apple, Business, Google, iOS, News, O Canada, Smartphones

Technology research firm IDC recently released updated smartphone sales numbers which are not likely to go down very well at Research In Motion’s (RIM). IDC’s report shows that BlackBerry is far behind category leaders Android and Apple in global sales for the second quarter of 2012. Apple and Google powered devices account for nearly 85 percent of the market, leaving RIM in the dust. Even though BlackBerry phones came in third place for the quarter, they did so with only a 4.8 percent share of the market. This is a tremendous drop from last year when RIM held on to an 11.5 per cent share of global sales.

 

The latest numbers from IDC are a continuing pattern of bad news for the once dominant Canadian smartphone maker. RIM has been trying to turn its luck around by creating the BlackBerry10 operating system and associated devices. However, the much hyped upgrade has yet to hit the market and has been delayed twice. The latest news puts the launch of BB10 in the beginning of 2013. This means that RIM will miss the lucrative Christmas buying season and is behind major competitors like Apple who recently released their highly anticipated iPhone 5. LG Electronics will also be launching its Optimus G Android phone soon. All these factors seem to be pushing RIM further in the hole as competitors Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and Motorola Mobility eat up its market share.

 

According to the Ottawa Business Journal, IDC’s report states the following for smartphone market share according to Operating System:

 

– Android (Google Inc.): 104.8 million units, 68.1 per cent share (46.9 per cent a year earlier)

– iOS (Apple Inc.’s iPhone): 26 million units, 16.9 per cent share (18.8 per cent a year earlier)

– BlackBerry (Research in Motion Ltd.): 7.4 million units, 4.8 per cent share (11.5 per cent a year earlier)

– Symbian (mostly used by Nokia Corp.): 6.8 million units, 4.4 per cent share (16.9 per cent a year earlier)

– Windows (Microsoft Corp.): 5.4 million units, 3.5 per cent share (2.3 per cent a year earlier)

– Linux: 3.5 million units, 2.3 per cent share (3.0 per cent a year earlier)

– Others: 0.1 million units, 0.1 per cent share (0.5 per cent a year earlier)

 

Source: Ottawa Business Journal

Photo: CrackBerry