Nokia’s share of the world smartphone market shrank three points in Q2, despite market growth of nearly 16%, says Gartner.

Nokia sold 15.3 million high-end phones, or 47.5% of all smart devices shipped, well ahead of its nearest rival BlackBerry, with a 17.4% share.

Global sales grew to 32.2 million units, up from 27.9 million units in the same period last year. Smartphones accounted for 11% of all mobiles sold, the same share as last year.

Last week Nokia warned that its share of the total handset market in Q3 would shrink because of aggressive price-cutting by competitors.

Gartner said although sales were up 22% in the first half of the year, shipments had slowed because of the weaker global economy.

“The current economic environment continues to negatively impact the market, limiting consumer spending and replacement purchases in general,” said Gartner principal analyst Roberta Cozza.

She said the introduction of enhanced phones based on proprietary operating systems had also crimped smartphone demand. Smartphone sales in Asia-Pacific and Japan actually fell 4.8% and 24% respectively as a result.

The launch of new high-end phones in Q3, including the 3G iPhone, would drive higher growth in the quarter, Cozza predicted.

North America accounted for almost 25% of the global smartphone sales to end users, up 78.7% over last year. EMEA sales grew 21% for the quarter, Gartner said.

Source:telecomasia.net