So, now that we’re half a year into the iPhone’s reign of terror, how goes the fight against smartphones everywhere? Market analysis firm Canalys has posted some data from the last quarter of 2007, giving us an idea of where exactly the market for smartphones stands. While Nokia continued to dominate the segment worldwide, with almost 19 million units shipped, Apple took a surprising third place behind Blackberry maker RIM, just edging past Motorola by shipping a few thousand more units.
In the US, the news was even better, with Apple holding a strong 28% second place to RIM’s 41% first, and leaving third place Palm in the dust with 9%. And all that with a device that was only available for half the year, with one subscriber (unless you’re of the unlocking persuasion), at a price that some called outrageous, and was available in mainly one model (perhaps simplicity is a selling point after all).
There are still challenges to be met, of course. Canalys says that the fast growing market for smartphones is Asia/Pacific, a geographical area which Apple has promised to expand into later this year. And there’s much ground to be made up globally behind Nokia’s 52.9% of the worldwide market. We imagine Steve and Co. have some tricks up their sleeves for 2008, and we’ll be keeping an eye on the numbers.
