As Samsung and Apple fight for smartphone market domination, new competition has started to stir. Samsung and Apple had a combined share of the global smartphone market during the second quarter of this year of 43%, which was down by 6% from one year ago during the same three months.
The names of some of the competition slowing eating into the market share are familiar such as Nokia, HTC and Sony. Others have recently entered the market like Lenovo, LG from South Korea and both Huawei and ZTE from China.
At this point, say analysts, it is not just a Samsung versus Apple story, as both will now be facing similar challenges and challengers.
Many phones are operating on the Android platform by Google, have large high-definition screens and are less expensive, especially in China, which is becoming a much more important sales point than previously.
On an individual basis, none of the companies can pose a threat to either Samsung or Apple. However, collectively the following three top competitors have shown strength over the past year.
In third is LG with a share of the smartphone global market of 5.3% up from last year’s 3.7%. At No. 4 was ZTE, which has a share of 5%, up from last year’s share of 3.7% and in fifth is Huawei with a share of 4.8% up from 4.2% from last year.
During the first quarter of 2011, three companies from the West – Apple, Blackberry and Nokia topped the worldwide smartphone market list, but a shift eastward reflects the huge increase in sales in China, which has now surpassed the U.S. as the biggest market for smartphones in the world.
