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.

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