Japan smartphone shipments grew a massive +63% annually in Q4 2012 to a record high penetration of total handset shipments. Softbank and NTT Docomo were the key carriers driving this growth with hefty demand for their 3G/4G smartphones and record performance from Apple and Samsung. Domestic vendors such as Sharp and Fujitsu conversely recorded below average performance during the quarter.

The full report - Japan Smartphone Vendor Marketshare by Operator: Q4 2012 - available to the clients of our Country Handset Share Tracker service, tracks smartphone vendor marketshare by quarter at all major operators in Japan, including NTT Docomo, Softbank and KDDI. The report can be used by handset vendors, component makers, content developers, vehicle manufacturers and others to identify winners and losers by carrier in the high-value Japanese mobile market.

Global smartphone shipments increased by 38% annually in Q4 2012. This report, available to the clients of our Country Handset Share Tracker service, tracks the world's 11 leading smartphone vendors' shipments and marketshare across 15 major countries worldwide in Q1-Q4 2012. The 15 countries tracked account for 80% of total global smartphone volumes. Countries covered are: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, UK, and the United States. This report is a valuable tool for any mobile stakeholder that wants to track smartphone vendors' operational performances at a granular country level.

Smartphone shipments in Japan fell -10% sequentially in Q2 2012 due to normal seasonality. Among the top 10 brands, Samsung and Sony were the star performers, almost doubling their marketshare in a few months as a result of enhanced Galaxy and Xperia portfolios. However, their growth has come at the expense of market-leader Fujitsu-Toshiba. The Japanese vendor has lost over one-third of its volumes in the country since the start of the year. More data and analysis can be downloaded here by clients of our Country Share Tracker (CST) service. The report tracks quarterly smartphone volumes for Japan and 14 other major countries, such as Brazil, USA and Germany.

According to Strategy Analytics’ Country Share Tracker (CST) service, 15 countries represented three-quarters of global smartphone shipments in Q2 2012: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, UK, and USA. During the quarter, Samsung was the number one smartphone vendor in 13 of these countries. Meanwhile, Apple captured the top spot in the United States, desipite early anticipation of the recently released iPhone 5. Indeed, Samsung and Apple have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, as the ony two smartphone vendors with double-digit marketshare worldiwde. More smartphone vendor shipments to 15 key countries worldwide in Q2 2012 can be viewed by clients here.