Do other OEMs stand a chance?

APPLE   SAMSUNG   VENDOR

China – Archrivals in the tech space, Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone vendors market, taking 55% share of global shipments in the first quarter of 2012.

According to ABI Research, both companies have snatched up more than 90% of the market's profits, not giving other smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEM) a chance to close up the gap.

Samsung takes the lead with 42 million units in smartphone vendor shipments while Apple is in second place with 35 million units.

ABI Research reported that smartphone shipments grew 41% year-on-year to 144.6 million units in the first quarter of the year, but of the top ten smartphone OEMs, only Samsung and Sony saw a sequential growth from 2011 fourth quarter.

Nokia saw a drastic 40% decline, while BlackBerry maker RIM saw a 20% sequential decline in shipments.

"At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business by 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments," Michael Morgan, senior analyst of devices, applications and content at ABI Research, said.

Some analysts reckon that smartphone OEMs should expand to other key markets such as China, which is still showing a strong 80% growth in shipment. However, local vendors ZTE and Huawei will also pose as tough competitors in the market.

"As Nokia's market share in China plummets, the competition to fill this power vacuum has the potential to make or break smartphone OEMs currently struggling with profitability and differentiation," Jeff Orr, practice director of devices, applications and content, said.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Follow @ProcurementAsia on Twitter for breaking stories throughout the day.

Have something to say? Join the discussion on Facebook and LinkedIn.