Although there’s little doubt that Apple is flying high with the iPhone, they’re losing a bit of steam when it comes to competing as a global cell phone maker. Cupertino still ranks in the top five for a second quarter in a row, but slipped from fourth to fifth place in the last quarter.
AppleInsider is reporting that new data reveals that Apple is still holding their own against cell phone makers worldwide -- for a second quarter in a row, the company ranked in the top five, but slipped from fourth to fifth place, according to new data published by IDC.
“Apple posted 86 percent year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2010, giving it a 4 percent share of the market and the fifth-place spot among global vendors,” AppleInsider reported. “Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics and ZTE took the other top spots, respectively.”
ZTE in particular made great strides in IDC’s third quarter 2010 data, leaping from the “Other” category straight up to Apple’s former position at number four -- but barely. “ZTE’s unit shipments of 16.8 million bested Apple’s $16.2 million, though the iPhone’s average selling price of $625 is undoubtedly higher than ZTE’s handsets, most of which are traditional feature phones,” AppleInsider revealed.
Also notable is the absence of Blackberry maker Research in Motion, whose 35 percent growth in the last quarter wasn’t enough to land in the top five.
With the February 10 launch of the long-awaited Verizon iPhone looming on the horizon, Apple’s fortunes could increase exponentially, with recent surveys claiming that Verizon may pick up as many as 25 million new subscribers from the iPhone 4.
All in all, IDC reports “the worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9 percent in the December 2010 quarter, a significant improvement over the 2009 market decline of 1.6 percent,” according to AppleInsider.
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(Image courtesy of AppleInsider)
