Research company IDC has published its European Mobile Phone Tracker report for the third quarter of 2009, revealing that the mobile phone market in Western Europe has grown for the first time in the last 15 months. Shipments were up 5% year-on-year (and 11% on the previous quarter), reaching 46.8 million units.
However smartphone sales fell 2% year-on-year, with traditional mobile phones driving the quarter's growth. The report says Nokia still leads the market, now with a 35.3% market share, followed by Samsung with 30.5%.
Android's market share increased from 4.2% in the second quarter to 5.4% in Q3. The company says sales are below expectations, with consumers recognising the Google brand but still not understanding what Android is. This lack of awareness was confounded by the relatively small number of Android-powered devices available.
The RIM BlackBerry OS continued to perform well, growing 87% year-on-year, while Windows Mobile continued to lose market share – although IDC says its market share is expected to increase following the launch of new Windows Mobile 6.5 devices in October. Symbian remains the OS market leader despite a drop in market share from 59% in Q2 to 48% in Q3 2009 – and Apple's market share grew from 16% in Q2 to 24% in Q3. [Press release]