Report: Nokia's smartphone market share dropping

Nokia is losing its smartphone market share while smaller competitors such as Research In Motion, Apple and HTC have been gaining share in the fast-growing segment, according to new research from Gartner.

Nokia saw its market share for smartphones drop to 40.8 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to 50.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. Meanwhile, RIM, Apple, HTC and Samsung all saw their smartphone market shares climb substantially in the quarter. For all of 2008, Nokia's smartphone market share dropped to 43.7 percent, down from 49.4 percent in 2007. While Nokia still commands a strong worldwide lead, the insurgent competitors are certainly making inroads in the global market.

Gartner said that for the fourth quarter of 2008, global sales of smartphones reached 38.1 million units, a 3.7 percent year-over-year jump. For all of 2008, smartphone sales reached 139.3 million units, up 13.9 percent compared with 2007. For all of 2008, the Symbian OS, RIM's BlackBerry OS and Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform led the way in terms of smartphone operating systems, but their market shares declined compared to 2007.

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