LG, Nokia And HTC Increase Share Of UK Smartphone Market

LG, Nokia and HTC all increased their share of the UK smartphone market in the three months leading up to March 2013, while Windows Phone also made gains, pulling it further ahead of BlackBerry, according to Kanter WorldPanel ComTech.

Samsung remains the largest smartphone manufacturer in the UK with 36.2 percent of all devices sold, followed by Apple on 29 percent, but the research firm says the market in the UK is becoming more competitive.

HTC has struggled financially in recent times, but it increased its share to 9.1 percent of the market to cement third place, while LG’s rise was attributed almost solely to the Google-branded LG Nexus 4, which helped it achieve a 4.3 percent share. There was good news too for Nokia, whose devices accounted for 5.6 percent of all sales.

UK smartphone market

Android remains the largest operating system with a 58.3 percent share, up by 10 percent year-on-year, but HTC and Nokia’s success has allowed Windows Phone to increase its share by 3 percent to 6.7 percent.

BlackBerry recorded a 5.1 percent share, down by 11.7 percent from last year, despite the launch of the BlackBerry Z10 earlier this year.  Analysts said BlackBerry 10 would most likely have a greater impact once prices fall and when more mid-range devices were available to expand the platform’s reach.

“Although the new model received great reviews, it’s going to take time for BlackBerry to see share gains. Consumers just don’t have the same levels of pent up demand for the handset as they did for the iPhone 5,” said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

“Over the past few years it has been BlackBerry’s budget devices, like the Curve 8520 and 9320, which have been selling well and these attract a young, price sensitive consumer. The Z10 is a high-end handset with a price to match, so going after its existing base of consumers will require a significant trade up.

“The handset is likely to start selling in more serious numbers once the launch price falls, and BlackBerry 10 in general, when the range is padded out with a number of wallet-friendly mid-range offerings.”

Windows Phone has pulled further ahead of BlackBerry in the US, but unlike the UK, the BlackBerry Z10 was not launched until March, after Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s sales figures were collected.

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