To appreciate the roller-coaster ride that is the global smartphone market these days, look no further than this chart, created by GeekWire based on data from the IDC research firm’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
Samsung has taken advantage of the growth of Google’s Android mobile operating system to reign supreme as the No. 1 smartphone vendor in the world, by shipments, up from a lowly No. 5 a little more than a year ago, according to the IDC data.
Apart from showing the impact of Android on the market, Samsung’s meteoric growth also underscores the significance of its patent deal with Microsoft, giving the Redmond company unspecified royalties on Samsung’s Android device sales.
Also note the steady rise of HTC, another Android smartphone maker with which Microsoft has a patent deal. (HTC and Samsung also make Windows Phones.)
The trends don’t look as good for Microsoft’s flagship smartphone partner, Nokia, which has gone from the undisputed market leader to just another member of the pack, according to the IDC data. The companies are counting on a new line of Windows Phones from Nokia to help turn things around.
Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, was seeing its numbers start to slide even before a recent outage of its systems bruised its reputation.
Apple’s results for the third quarter were hurt by a later-than-normal release of its latest iPhone.
Previously on GeekWire: Latest Windows Phone data: Nowhere to go but up, right?
