According to a recent report from ABI Research, Nokia is still the handset leader with a 56.4 percent share of the 70.9 million units shipped in 2006. The handset maker sold 40 million smartphones in 2006, up from 28.5 million a year earlier. Motorola maintained its position as number two in 2006 with 8.5 percent market share, thanks largely to its Linux-based devices in China, like the MING.
Operating system dominance, however, is a different story: Symbian is still out in front, but its market share is set to drop dramatically as Windows Mobile and Linux climb. ABI wireless research director Stuart Carlaw stated: "In 2006, Symbian was estimated to have a 73 percent share of the smartphone OS market, yet our forecast is that it will to fall to 46 percent by 2012, due to strong competition coming most notably from Linux, but also from Windows Mobile."
For more on the latest ABI report:
- see this press release