Immediately following my most recent two blog posts at the end of last week, I (and no doubt the rest of the mobile world) came across some very interesting numbers this morning that are also relevant for those blog posts of mine.
First, it was reported today by analyst firm Canalys that in Q4 2010 Android-based mobile phones (in their totality, from all phone device makers that make Android phones) surpassed Nokia Symbian devices in total smartphones sold for the quarter. Nokia sold 31 million Symbian devices…mobile devices powered by Android sold 32.9 million. I will note here that I’m not making a distinction between what was actually ‘shipped’ by all Android vendors and what has actually been ‘sold’ into the field (whether for consumer or enterprise use). Here is the chart from Canalys:
It would appear that Android indeed has something ‘more than a press release’ in its hands.
At the very same time, Strategy Analytics has just released a report detailing its analysis of tablet market share. Here is the chart from Strategy Analytics:
Source: Strategy Analytics
The full report, Global Tablet OS Market Share: Q4 2010, is published by the Strategy Analytics Tablet & Touchscreen (TTS) service.
Last, the following post by David Klein on Seeking Alpha, Microsoft Still an Attractive Value Play also appeared today – it does, I think, an interesting job of explaining why Microsoft is quickly evolving towards becoming a ‘dividend play,’ as I noted in my blog post from last Thursday. As Microsoft becomes a dividend play (and value stock, rather than a growth stock) it serves as a strong indicator of Microsoft’s ability to shape new markets (for the most part, in decline) relative to its ability to continue to dominate and grow its traditional markets (strong as ever).
The charts I’ve provided here serve as hard numbers that underscore the difficulties not only Microsoft, but RIM and Nokia as well, now face in moving their mobile businesses forward. For Nokia and RIM, of course, mobility is their entire livelyhood. Microsoft, meanwhile, is in absolutely no danger of losing its position as a gargantuan generator of cash – but moblity never the less remains at the center of its efforts to continue to be perceived as ‘the player’ that can still control and shape the technology landscape. Unless Microsoft can pull off a tablet and smartphone miracle those days are essentially long gone.
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Tags: Android, Apple, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, Mobile Devices, Mobile Observatory, Nokia, Tablets, Tony Rizzo
