Samsung, currently the largest maker of handsets in the market, is credited for having sold over 40 percent of Android based phones. Reports suggest that overall sale of handsets reduced by 2 percent and fell to 419 million. However, according to researchers, the sales of smartphones have risen by 45 percent.
Samsung, along with being the leading producer of handsets also manufactures hardware and screens which are used in other smartphones. Samsung earns most of its smartphone revenue through Android offerings. 56 percent of the new smartphones in the market run on Android, almost twice as many as Apple.
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Devices by Samsung are available in a range of prices and the possibility of cheaper models running on Android coming up has pushed consumers in Asia to patiently wait for better deals to come their way. Low end handsets and feature phones that are incapable of running a variety of applications are now fast declining in the market according to analysts.
The smartphone market is increasingly becoming commoditized. According to a study by Gartner, a research company, Samsung is the only vendor who has a share of more than 10 percent in the market for Android run devices. While Microsoft had a share of 2.6 percent in the handsets sold last year, their share has now fallen to 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, Nokia experienced a drop of market share to 19.8 percent. According to Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, in collaboration with Microsoft Nokia is hoping to introduce Windows Phone as the third ecosystem which will compete with Apple and Android.
The smartphones running Symbian accounted for 8.6 percent, which is only one third of its share in the last year. On the whole, Nokia’s share in the smartphone market, counting the N9 and Windows Phone, was 9.2 percent. Nokia successfully managed to outshine Apple whose share in the handset market stands at 7.9 percent.
On account of economic uncertainty, the possibility of smartphone upgrades has seen a decline in the markets of Western Europe. Leading in the market is Samsung, followed by Apple and Nokia. Gartner has predicted the sale of 1.9 billion handsets and 650 million smartphones in this year, showing a growth of 5.5 and 38 percent in both cases respectively. However, by 2015 Windows Phone is expected to be second best to Android, leaving Apple behind, predicted analysts.
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