Christian Louca

Posted By, by Stuart Dredge @ Mobile Entertainment

Strategy Analytics hails record 53m smartphone shipments for Q4 2009

53 million smartphones shipped globally in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Strategy Analytics. That’s up 30% year-on-year.

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The company’s report is based on financials from the various handset makers.

“This was the strongest period of growth since Q3 2008 and smartphones are leading the handset industry out of recession,” says senior analyst Tom Kang.

“Sales are being driven by stronger consumer demand and a stream of attractive new 3G models tempting buyers into retail stores.”

It’s good news for Nokia, Research In Motion and Apple, who increased their global smartphone market share to 39.2%, 20.2% and 16.4% respectively (that’s 20.8m, 10.7m and 8.7m units).

Of those, Apple showed the biggest growth, up from its market share of 10.8% in Q4 2008.

Smartphones from other handset makers shipped 12.8 million units in Q4 2009, taking a market share of 24.2% – down from 33.6% in Q4 2008.

“The smartphone market will become ultra competitive in 2010,” says director Neil Mawston, though.

“Samsung and LG have ambitious plans to grow volumes and expand their app stores, while emerging players like Dell and Huawei are strengthening their device portfolios and courting major operators.”

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