iPhone overtakes BlackBerry, closes in on Nokia

Apple shipped 14.1 million smartphones in the last quarter, overtaking BlackBerry manufacturer RIM, figures from Strategy Analytics have shown.

The Cupertino company achieved a record 18 per cent market share, as Nokia’s share dropped from 37.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 to 34.4 per cent in the same period this year.

This was despite Nokia shipping a record number of smartphones with more 26 million units during the period.

The Finnish company has been experiencing some turbulence lately and yesterday announced it will let 1,800 workers go in the coming months.

RIM’s market share, meanwhile, fell from 19.6 per cent to 16.1 per cent and, according to Strategy Analytics, the manufacturer is suffering due to its limited presence in the touchscreen market.

Meanwhile, worldwide smartphone shipments grew 78 per cent to reach a record 77 million units in the third quarter of 2010.

However, Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, had some words of warning for the expanding market.

“The surging volumes are placing heavy demands on component suppliers and moderate shortages of select components are emerging ahead of the Q4 holiday season,” Mawston added.

A Gartner report released this week suggested Symbian’s market share was going to be eroded over the coming four years by both Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.

The analyst firm also predicted the mobility market will be worth more than $1 trillion (£638 billion) a year by 2014.