According to our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, global smartphone shipments grew +38% annually in Q4 2012, and +43% in FY 2012. Growth in the quarter was healthy but slowed a little as postpaid penetration matures. Samsung and Apple continue to dominate volumes due to their extensive retail presence. Huawei became the world's third largest smartphone player for the first time ever, highlighting the rise of Chinese brands. This published report -- available to download by clients --contains global smartphone shipments by the top 20 vendors by region by quarter from 2007 to 2012. Global smartphone shipments by vendor by operating system by quarter are also included in a pivot-table. The report is valuable for mobile stakeholders who want to size the huge market for smartphones and operating system marketshare by hardware vendor.

According to our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, global smartphone shipments reached a record level of 700 million units in full-year 2012. While Android was once more the dominant global OS by volume, Apple reclaimed some marketshare thanks to the first full quarter of availability for the new iPhone 5. This trend was especially apparent in North America, where Android appears to have peaked, but globally Android still accounts for a significant majority of all smartphones shipped. BlackBerry and Symbian continued to see their global presence shrink, and while Microsoft experienced a boost from the launch of Windows Phone 8 in Q4, the gain was smaller than expected.

This published report, available to download by clients, contains global smartphone shipments by operating system by region by quarter from 2009 to 2012. The report is valuable for mobile stakeholders who want to size the huge market for smartphones and operating system marketshare.

According to our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, HTC’s smartphone shipments worldwide declined by -29% annually in Q4 2012. We believe Chinese players such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo are grabbing large chunks of marketshare in China in the lower price-tiers, while the two smartphone giants Samsung and Apple achieved a lion’s share of volume and profit in the higher-tiers. As a result of the heightened competition, HTC’s global revenues were down -41% against the previous year and its gross profit fell by -92% annually. This published report gives more details for clients to download.

According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, global smartphone shipments grew 38 percent annually to reach 217 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012. Android and Apple iOS together accounted for a record 92 percent share of all smartphones shipped worldwide.<

Global smartphone shipments grew 38 percent annually from 157.0 million units in Q4 2011 to 217.0 million in Q4 2012. Global smartphone shipments for the full year reached a record 700.1 million units in 2012, increasing robustly from 490.5 million units in 2011. Global shipment growth slowed from 64 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2012 as penetration of smartphones began to mature in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe.

We estimate 152.1 million Android smartphones were shipped globally in Q4 2012, nearly doubling from 80.6 million units in Q4 2011. Android’s share of the global smartphone market has surged from 51 percent to 70 percent over the past year, crushing Symbian, Bada and other platforms in its wake. Almost half-a-billion Android smartphones were shipped in total worldwide during 2012. Android is clearly the undisputed volume leader of the smartphone industry at the present time. Android’s challenge for 2013 will be to defend its leadership, not only against Apple, but also against an emerging wave of hungry challengers that includes Microsoft, Blackberry, Firefox and Tizen.

Apple grew 29 percent annually and shipped 47.8 million smartphones worldwide for 22 percent marketshare in Q4 2012, dipping slightly from 24 percent a year earlier. Combined together, Apple and Android accounted for a record 92 percent share of all smartphones shipped globally in the fourth quarter of 2012. The worldwide smartphone industry has effectively become a duopoly as consumer demand has polarized around mass-market Android models and premium Apple designs.

Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Operating System Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2012 [1]

According to our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, global smartphone industry revenues rose +38% annually during Q3 2012. Apple led the pack in the premium category of smartphones, while Samsung is forging a solid lead in the remaining segments, while narrowing the gap with Apple in premium tier. This published report, available to clients, provides quarterly global smartphone shipment, ASP, and wholesale revenue metrics for nine major vendors from Q1 2011 to Q3 2012. Global smartphone vendor marketshare by price-tier, and global revenue-share tracking by price-tier, for all nine vendors is also included.

The question of whether the market can support another mobile OS is different from the one that asks if it needs another mobile OS. Yet another question is, which appears to have been answered by the impressive list of operator titans that have pledged support for Mozilla’s new Firefox OS, does the industry want another OS?

The answer is “yes”, but there is a huge difference between want and need and Mozilla is about to get schooled on economic principles 101.

It’s true the lead that Android and iOS currently has is too great to overcome, but how much does that really matter? At face value, quite a bit. The investment required to build and bring a mobile OS to market is anything but trivial, and the industry is littered with a heap of platforms that seemingly had promise, but were only added to the heap in the end. In no particular order, Palm OS, ALP, Limo, Maemo, Moblin, Meego, webOS, and the market’s attritional ways is also taking care of Symbian, likely Bada and eventually Blackberry down the road as RIM transitions to its new QNX-based Blackberry10. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Firefox OS doesn’t suffer the same fate, which leads to a new question, what good can come of this?

Beyond the potential of powering very capable smartphones at sub-$100 price points, the industry support that Firefox OS is building gives it the potential of being a credible evangelist for HTML5 development. Performance of HTML5 applications on most platforms is often frustrating and it’s hardly used for any applications thought remotely critical. However, the new OS allows HTML5 applications to reach the core API which means all the top tier applications that smartphones have typically been known for, including browsing, messaging, gaming, and voice calling can now all be developed with HTML5.

The language has the potential to transform mobile devices and give the Web a more natural feel on phones. To further make this point, realize that Apple led the market in innovation of HTML5 features in its Safari browser. Now realize that nearly 66% of all mobile browsing traffic as of June 2012 has come from Apple’s Safari browser, while just 19% comes from the Android browser, according to NetApplications’ July report. Now factor in Android’s 63% share of the worldwide market compared to Apple’s 22% and you begin to appreciate the impact that HTML5 can have on the user experience.

Granted, Android’s fragmentation from allowing partners to make independent decisions on UI’s, hardware specs, and third-party browsers, has made it difficult for it to support HTML5. But since the mobile industry tends to move forward by companies matching the capabilities as others innovate, it is possible that Firefox OS doesn’t have to be wildly successful to have a positive impact on the industry. We may look back and realize its real value was in how it pushed HTML5 forward for all.