We use our SpecTRAX online database to indicate popular smartphones. We found that in the first half of 2012 smartphones from Nokia and RIM joined those from Apple and Samsung as most widely available.

The complete top 20 list of global smartphones ranked according to their shelf-share are shown below.

Samsung pipped Apple to the top spot with the Galaxy S II i9100 (16GB), closely followed by Apple’s iPhone 4S 16 GB.  Impressively the Galaxy SII is available from every network operator and retail channel analyzed by the SpecTRAX team.

Our report also summarizes the key specifications of the top 20 smartphones including display size, camera resolution, processor speed and operating systems.

Over 50% of devices profiled were Android; however iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry OS and Symbian all held their ground in the top 20 smartphone list.

The key finds of the report include;

• Samsung’s Galaxy S II i9100 (16 GB) shows universal availability (only absent from the iStore shelves); the Apple iPhone 4S 16 GB comes in a close second.
• Nokia’s Lumia 800 gained traction early in its lifecycle being available through 77% of global channels just months after launch;  beating Samsung’s heavily publicised Galaxy S III i9300 16 GB launched in Q2 2012.
• HTC’s One X quad-core device (launched at MWC in February 2012) came in 12th place showing across 2/3 of shelves; an impressive positioning for this ultra-high-end product.
• The HTC Wildfire S and RIM Blackberry Curve 2 8520 entry level smartphones continue to be available from more than 60% of channels despite their age.

Samsung has the most devices in the ranking with five smartphones in the top 10 by shelf-share.  When the list is expanded to the top 20 widely available smartphones then devices from Sony, HTC and Motorola feature as popular in network operators product portfolios.

The data in the SpecTRAX online database is constantly updated and customers use it to track global and regional markets in terms of the popularity of handset and the associated specifications of those devices. This is particularly powerful information for product managers and development teams.
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SpecTRAX, a comparison tool from Strategy Analytics, records the specifications of new cellphone handsets and tablets as they are announced; tracking availability through over 300 carrier and retail channels. 

Click here to try the SpecTRAX for yourself
http://sa-link.cc/RS8Blog2

Alternatively CONTACT THE TEAM to arrange a SpecTRAX demo.

Steve Entwistle

Clients can access the full details in the report “Results Are In: Samsung’s Galaxy S II was the most widely-available device in 1H 2012” ranking.

SpecTRAX availability and shelf-share data revealed Nokia's Lumia 710 in poll position for smartphones launched in Europe during Q1 2012. This means that during its launch quarter, the Lumia 710 made its way onto 33% of European carriers. The Sony Xperia S (27%) and LG Prada K2 (22%) came in second and third place, with the Lumia 800 featuring on 17% of operator's shelves; meaning Nokia's new launches were in the top 4 smartphones by shelf-share at launch. Download SpecTRAX's latest complimentary extract: Most Widely Available NEW Smartphones in Europe Q1 2012 for the full story, summary spec details, and the methodology.

The analysis revealed European Carriers Top 20 newly released handsets were from Samsung (with 6 models) and HTC (5 models). Nokia, Sony, LG and RIM all featured 2 new smartphones a piece. The Apple iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy SIII and Nokia Lumia 900 did not feature in this report as they were launched either side of Q1 2012 in Europe.

SpecTRAX is a tactical database which tracks detailed handset specifications for smartphones, mobile phones, tablets and USB dongles. There are now over 14,000 unique models listed in the database. Click here to try the SpecTRAX database for yourself, or CONTACT THE TEAM to arrange a SpecTRAX demo.

SpecTRAX contains detailed spec analysis for over 13,000 handsets including mobile phones, tablets and 2100 smartphones to date. The latest complimentary SpecTRAX insight The Smartphone Shift tracks product annoucements since Q1 2010 to Q1 2012 and demonstrates an interesting trend in product type annoucements and the evolution of individual OEM portfolios. The impact of trades shows such as CES and MWC on Q1 annoucements each year are also discussed.

Smartphone and tablet announcements are on the up, whereas mobile phones (untargeted feature phones and mobile voice) annoucements have fallen significantly since their peak in 2010, and are now the remit of budget manufaturers. Smartphones and tablets share common technologies and have similar developmental pathways which result in two products for the price of one.

Interestingly, larger OEMs such as Samsung now show a clear preference for smartphones and tablets over mobile phones. The mobile phone appears to have settled into a niche for new OEMs gaining traction in developing countries, but for how long?

SpecTRAX is a tactical database which tracks detailed handset specifications for smartphones, mobile phones, tablets and USB dongles. Currently there are over 13,000 unique models listed in the database. If you want to try the SpecTRAX database for yourself, just click HERE or contact the team to arrange a SpecTRAX demo.

We've recently completed a 'market insight' entitled:  

In their choice of smartphones, consumers look closely at the specifications of certain key components while bearing in mind their likely pricing.  So what are those particular components, their specifications and their pricing? 

Getting to the bottom of this, we analysed close on 100 smartphones using the massed data from our SpecTRAX and PriceTRAX databases which revealed strong linear trends between handset specification and smartphone tariffs.  If the relationship is linear, there is the basis for reliably predicting smartphone pricing - and with this knowledge, there will be opportunities such as targeting gaps in the market with new products.

Understanding product pricing is therefore powerful knowledge and you can read how we reached our conclusions by clicking here.

If you would like to learn more about SpecTRAX or PriceTRAX, just click their names.

Ref: E62

42 new smartphones were announced at MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2012 and their specifications are examined in detail in this complimentary report HERE->

ZTE announced 13 models followed by Samsung and LG with 5 each.  The analysis was carried out using SpecTRAX.

The highlights of smartphones announced at MWC are:

• Android dominated with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich and the continued presence of Gingerbread. Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS 7 and 7.5 (Tango and Mango) were on 2 handsets, and Symbian Belle was found on Nokia’s 808 Pureview – more on p.7 of the report.
• The average display size of these new smartphones was over 4 inches; larger displays are power hungry so battery power was increased in response.
• Huawei’s powerful and impressive Ascend portfolio is equipped with “retina displays” and quad core processors – full details are on p.3 of the report.  Quad core processors gave calculated effective clock speeds of up to 4.5GHz which surpasses even some newly announced tablets.
• Nokia’s 808 Pureview fitted with a 41MP camera revolutionised smartphone photography – more on p.5.

If you want to try the SpecTRAX databse for yourself, just click HERE.

Stephen Entwistle

The rise of the iPhone since 2007 has been nothing short of breathtaking.  And now, for the first time in Q1 2011, Apple's iPhone 4 won the top spot from RIM's Blackberry Bold 2 9700 in the SpecTRAX global shelf share* chart.

In the turbulent mobile handset market, standing still is not an option!  The Blackberry, since Q2 2010, universally the most widely available handset, had plummeted to sixth place in the chart behind strong competition from European suppliers and Samsung.

Click here to read this full and exciting report and update your appreciation of the strength of the competitive forces at play in the mobile handset market.

* SpecTRAX global shelf share = most frequently appearing models in 130 carriers' portfolios.

Steve Entwistle

I’ve just got round to writing here about our global handset shelf share data collected in November. Shelf share is always a hot topic amongst handset vendors and network operators and we released an Insight report last month, created from statistics generated using our SpecTRAX market monitoring tool. The above analysis is based on data from our SpecTRAX database which holds intelligence on over 11,000 handsets globally available. You can try the database tool for yourself by registering HERE ->

• Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Bold2 9700 extended its lead at the top of our shelf share analysis for Q3 2010
• RIM’s Curve 2 8520 bounced back into second spot, recovering from being pushed down to third in Q2 2010 by Nokia’s E72.

Our shelf-share analysis tracks the handset portfolios of around 130 network operators in 29 countries. This quarter’s global top ten consists of only four brands: RIM BlackBerry, Samsung, Nokia and Apple.

• Apple’s 16 and 32GB versions of its iPhone 4 replaced the 3G S versions, taking fifth and sixth spots respectively, increasing their shelf share healthily from when they were launched at the end of Q2.
• Nokia has lost ground within the top ten over the past two quarters. The 5230 and 2330 classic both remained static while the number of operators offering the E72, N97 mini and 2730 classic has shrunk.

The full research paper can be downloaded from HERE -> Next week I should have the regional details for the shelf-share analysis which will show some interesting differences between some of the world’s main regions. Steve Entwistle Twitter: sentwistle1419

We have just completed last month’s cell phone market insight report with updates on product announcements, trends and global and regional handset shelf share. A snapshot of the primary findings is below but the entire paper can be downloaded free of charge from HERE --> During September 2010, 24 handset vendors announced another 79 new handsets between them.

• Seven of these 79 new handsets, including both Motorola’s Flipside and Milestone 2 as well as the HTC 7 Pro, featured the increasingly popular combination of a full QWERTY keyboard and a 3-inch+ capacitive touchscreen.
• RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 2 9700 extended its lead at the top of our shelf-share analysis for Q3 2010, appearing on the handset portfolios of more carriers than any other model.

More detailed analysis of some of these key trends will feature here on this blog in the next few weeks. The above analysis is based on data from our SpecTRAX database which holds intelligence on over 11,000 handsets globally available. You can try the database tool (shown below) for yourself by registering HERE --> Steve Entwistle

Hear insights from Stuart Robinson, Director of Strategy Analytics’ SpecTRAX service, who will talk about the important trends in recent global cellular handset model announcements. Join us on Thursday 9th September for a complimentary live online webinar. Topics covered by the webinar include:

• OS penetration; how many phones feature Android compared to LiMo, Windows and Symbian?
• Analysis of current spec trends; Bluetooth, touchscreen, QWERTY, form factor, screen & camera resolution….
• Shelf share analysis by region; which carriers offer the most Android phones?
• Typical specs of Android phone vs handsets running other operating systems

The webinar is targeted at existing clients of the SpecTRAX service as well as product planners, product marketers and portfolio managers across the industry. Attendance to the webinar is free however pre-registration is required. REGISTER –>>>            Date:                 Thursday 9th September 2010            Duration:           30 minutes, followed by 15 minutes Q&A            Time:                  2pm BST UK / 9am EDT Boston, repeated at 5pm PDT LA Once we have processed your registration, you will receive a confirmation email message with instructions on how to join the event. Feel free to forward this message to your colleagues who may be interested in this webinar.

Our SpecTRAX Q1 2010 shelf share analysis of 140 mobile network operators revealed that Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Curve 8520 moved up one place to top the chart, appearing in the product portfolios of 58 of the 140 network operators tracked in 29 countries around the world, more than any other handset model at the time.

The BlackBerry BOLD 9000 was finally pushed off top spot in Q1 2010, having been the model appearing on most network operators’ shelves during 2009. Research in Motion’s Curve 8520 moved up from second place in Q4 2009 to take first place in Q1 2010, ahead of 3 variations of the iPhone and the RIM Onyx. Nokia's highest ranked phone in this shelf share anaylsis was the N97 taking sixth place.

The report also summarises the key features and trends of 61 new handsets that were announced during May 2010 for which detailed specifications were available. Highlights from May’s 61 new handset announcements include:

• Penetration of Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS in new handsets are at their lowest levels for over a year, due to an increase in the number of low-end model announcements.
• 25 touchscreen phones (41% of the 61 new models), 21 of which are using capacitive and only 4 of which are using resistive technology;
• 55 new models (90%) were announced with a memory card slot, all of which are microSD-based. Six of these models can support 32GB memory card capacity (microSDHC) and a further 19 support cards up to 16GB.

The lower than average specs during recent months can be attributed in part to a higher than normal number of entry-level phones being introduced by several Tier 2 and Tier 3 handset vendors, mainly for China, India and other emerging markets.

The full 11 page SpecTRAX report can be accessed by clients here: BlackBerry Curve 8520 Takes Shelf Share Top Spot in Q1 2010
http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=ReportAbstractViewer&a0=5626

Stuart Robinson

Follow me on Twitter: @Stuart_Robinson