The latest research from Strategy Analytics says global smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2010 grew by 78% year-on-year; the fastest smartphone growth rate since the mid-2000s. A record number of 77 million smartphones were shipped in Q3 2010.
Tom Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, said "Global smartphone shipments grew an impressive 78% annually to reach a record 77 million units in Q3 2010. Apple was the star performer during the quarter, as it captured a record 18% marketshare, overtook RIM and closed the gap on Nokia."
Nokia still leads the smartphone market according to Strategy Analytics, although its global market share has slipped to 34%. Apple is now second, up to 18.3%, followed by RIM at 16.1%.
Other research figures released this week included confirmation from ABI Research that more than five billion mobile subscriptions were active worldwide in the first half of this year. ABI Research expects mobile subscriptions to reach 6.4 billion by 2015.
And Gartner has calculated that worldwide mobile voice and data revenue will exceed one trillion US dollars a year by 2014.