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EuroWire – March 2011
33
The period saw booming demand for smartphones and intense
competition in themarketplace, ofwhichAndroidnowcommands
a 28 per cent share.
The British research firm Canalys reported that shipments of
Android-powered handsets reached 32.9 million in Q4 2010, a
remarkable performance for a piece of software released less than
three years before. Nokia shipped 31 million Symbian-powered
handsets in the quarter.
Ranked third in the Canalys report, with approximately 16 million
units shipped, was the iOS fromApple, Incof theUS– theoperating
system that runs on the iPhone. The BlackBerry operating system
from Canada’s Research in Motion placed fourth, with 14.6 million
units shipped.
Android was also the top mobile platform in the United States
in Q4, with 12.1 million units shipped. The Google platform has
benefited from adoption by some of the world’s largest mobile
phone makers, such as HTC, LG and Samsung. Symbian has found
a berth mainly in handsets manufactured by Nokia.
According to data from NPD Group (Port Washington, New York),
on a handset basis the top-selling smartphone vendor in the US
for the fourth quarter was Apple, with the iPhone 4 in the No 1
slot and the older iPhone 3GS at No 4 Android handsets held
three of the top five slots.
However, as noted by Dan Gallagher of the Hamilton Spectator
(Ontario, Canada), the competitive dynamics may shift in the first
quarter of this year, when the iPhone makes its debut on Verizon
Wireless in the United States. Verizon has been a key backer
of Android. (“Android Makes Strong Gains in Mobile Market,”
31
st
January).
With respect to the Verizon-Apple agreement, Canalys looks for
Verizon to move its focus away from the Droid range. Company
analyst Tim Shepherd wrote that “the overall market impact will
mean fewer carrier-exclusive deals, while increasing the AT&T
opportunity for Android vendors such as HTC, Motorola and
Samsung.”
In other news of Motorola, it was learned on 24
❈
❈
th
January that
the Schaumburg, Illinois-based company is being sued by
Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei over Motorola’s
sale of its wireless business unit to Nokia Siemens Networks.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Illinois, seeks to
forestall damage to Huawei from the transfer of Motorola
assets to the Finnish firm.
Huawei and Motorola had a working relationship from 2000
until July of last year, when Motorola announced the sale to
Nokia Siemens of its entire wireless infrastructure business –
including products it sells for 3G wireless networks – in a deal
worth about $1.2 billion.
Huawei’s complaint asserts that the transfer of Motorola assets
would cause “the massive disclosure of Huawei’s confidential
information to Nokia Siemens Networks, with irreparable harm
to Huawei.” Specifically, the Chinese company argues that a large
number of Motorola employees, who will be transferred to Nokia
Siemens under the terms of the deal, have direct knowledge of
Huawei’s confidential information.