Palm Claimed 6% of the US Smartphone Market in Dec

comScore has released their latest data from the comScore MobiLens service, which reports on key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry over the three month period between September and December 2009. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers as well as the most popular forms of content and activity accessed via mobile device.

The report found Motorola to be the top handset manufacturer with 23.5 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 41.6 percent market share. Although down slightly from the last period, Palm's webOS broke into the top 5 platforms for the period as well.

OEM Market Share

A total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009. Device manufacturer Motorola was the top ranked OEM with 23.5 percent of U.S. mobile devices. LG ranked second with 21.9 percent share, followed by Samsung (21.2 percent share), Nokia (9.2 percent share) and RIM (7.0 percent share).

Top Mobile OEMs
3 Months Ending Dec. 2009 vs. 3 Months Ending Sep. 2009*
Total U.S. Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Mobile Devices
Sep-09 Dec-09 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Motorola 24.9% 23.5% -1.4
LG 21.7% 21.9% 0.2
Samsung 20.4% 21.2% 0.8
Nokia 9.6% 9.2% -0.4
RIM 6.4% 7.0% 0.6

Smartphone Platform Market Share

RIM was the leading mobile smartphone operating system in the U.S. in December 2009 with 41.6 percent share of U.S. smartphone devices. Apple ranked second with 25.3 percent share (up 1.2 percentage points), followed by Microsoft with 18.0 percent share, Palm with 6.1 percent share, and Google with 5.2 percent share (up 2.7 percentage points).

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Months Ending Dec. 2009 vs. 3 Months Ending Sep. 2009
Total U.S. Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Smartphone Devices
Sep-09 Dec-09 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
RIM 42.6% 41.6% -1.0
Apple 24.1% 25.3% 1.2
Microsoft 19.0% 18.0% -1.0
Palm 8.3% 6.1% -2.2
Google 2.5% 5.2% 2.7

Mobile Content Usage

In December 2009, 63.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 2.1 percentage points from three months prior. Browsers were used by 27.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 1.5 percentage points), while subscribers who played games made up 21.6 percent (up 0.2 percentage points).

Mobile Content Usage
3 Months Ending Dec. 2009 vs. 3 Months Ending Sep. 2009
Total U.S. Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Smartphone Devices
Sep-09 Dec-09 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Sent text message to another phone 61.0% 63.1% 2.1
Used browser 26.0% 27.5% 1.5
Played games 21.4% 21.6% 0.2
Used Downloaded Apps 16.7% 17.8% 1.1
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog 13.8% 15.9% 2.1
Listened to music on mobile phone 11.7% 12.1% 0.4

Source: comScore Press Release.

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IOW - Palm dropped 25% from before

SeldomVisitor @ 2/9/2010 11:18:45 AM # Q
OR, to look at it from the opposite POV, PALM before was 33% higher than now.

How fast did the smartphone market expand over that time?

Is Palm slipping or simply keeping up or actually gaining?

Reply to this comment

6.1% down from 8.3%

Gekko @ 2/9/2010 3:54:09 PM # Q
that's quite an accomplishment, Ruby. what are you going to do for an encore?
RE: 6.1% down from 8.3%
Gekko @ 2/11/2010 4:58:54 AM # Q

heckuva job, Ruby!
Reply to this comment

These figures are MEANINGLESS

Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 2/9/2010 8:40:58 PM # M Q
Instead of just parroting these figures it would be helpful if you include some background on how they were derived. Was usage sampled randomly around the entire country or were the majority of the respondents recruited from Google HQ?

What was the sample size?

Who is paying this company for this "data"?

Companies like this are a dime a dozen (hellooooooo Gartner!). If Palm, RIM, Google, Microsoft or Nokia are willing to pay, no doubt this company could create a "study" that paints them in a favorable light.

Don't believe everything you read.

And in other news I hear Angelina Jolie just divorced Brad Pitt and will be marrying Tiger Woods in a Sunnyvale, in a service conducted by Reverend Ed Colligan and his Korean ministerial partner, Sum Yung Gai.

RE: These figures are MEANINGLESS
LiveFaith @ 2/9/2010 9:49:44 PM # Q
Meaningless?
Pat Horne
RE: These figures are MEANINGLESS
Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 2/10/2010 12:54:06 AM # M Q
Yup. Meaningless.
For exmple, last month I heard LiveFaith Resaarch Associates did a survey in which - for the 6th month in a row - the most popular smartphone was the Treo 650. Unfortunately, the only person YOU surveyed was YOU. Funny how easy it is to manipulate statistics to say what you want.
Reply to this comment

US-centric data

rpa @ 2/10/2010 12:38:12 AM # Q
I wonder what the value is of such research in the US market where carriers control access to technology. There are many people in the US locked in a 2 year contract with the subsidized handset they got with their plan and not necessarily the handset they would buy in the market today as a stand alone purchase all other things being equal.

The international market is where the innovation can be more accurately measured and from an unscientific "survey" (the folks I see carrying handsets around in Asia), my take is Apple has a lock on the consumer side and RIM owns the corporate space for smart phones. Palm doesn't exist out here after the demise of the Treo brand which was as common as BBs are now. The other major player is Nokia across the entire phone spectrum from cheap dumb phones to the E and N series (the E72 is a very hot item as is the 5800 Express).

RE: US-centric data
abosco @ 2/10/2010 4:02:31 AM # M Q
Yes, but that's because Palm is concentrating on their home market first before branching out. Palm has always had a relatively weak worldwide presence. US statistics are important to Palm.

Maybe you can answer this question for me. Why the hell do people outside of the US buy Nokia?

RE: US-centric data
rpa @ 2/10/2010 4:43:06 AM # Q
Why do people buy Nokia? The norm here in Asia has been to buy an unlocked phone and sign up for whatever carrier you want (all are GSM so just slip in a new SIM card and you are ready to go). Nokia offers a wide range on unlocked phones and the build quality is good especially in the E and N series. Go to the Nokia Hong Kong web page and you will see phones of all sorts. Nokia has established a market penetration that is hard to beat and many friends have owned nothing other than Nokia. I bought an E series phone (great build quality) but I felt Symbian was too complicated after Garnet so I passed it to my wife. She loves it so go figure.

With the emergence of smartphones (read: more expensive), plans like the US are more available where the phone is subsidized so you see a lot of people moving to Apple (a 2 year plan for a free iPhone is about US$45/month).

RE: US-centric data
abosco @ 2/10/2010 5:19:01 AM # Q
It must be a cultural difference. In the US, we love free (or cheap) shit, and we are fine with tacking on another monthly bill. But Nokia doesn't like that.

What would be the price of a comparable plan for an unlocked Nokia smartphone? $45 per month sounds cheap for an iPhone plan.

-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G

RE: US-centric data
vetdoctor @ 2/10/2010 7:14:55 AM # M Q
It must be a cultural difference. In the US, we love free (or cheap) shit, and we are fine with tacking on another monthly bill

Which is why the average american is in debt up to his nose and the average asian-when he buys a home- does so in cash.

RE: US-centric data
abosco @ 2/10/2010 9:11:53 AM # Q
Really? Is that why Chinese banks are giving a record number of mortgages with variable 2% interest rates and minimal down-payments, instilling fears of a similar mortgage and debt overload in the coming decade?

The average US citizen's savings rate is at 6% of personal income, the highest in about 25 years. In 2006, it was between 0-1%.

Like it or not, every economy in the world runs on loans and debt. The struggle is keeping debt to a reasonable level as compared to assets. If everyone paid in cash and nobody took out loans, the economy would come to a standstill. Look at Japan in the 1990's.

-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G

RE: US-centric data
e_tellurian @ 2/10/2010 9:48:42 AM # M Q
Our North American economy invests in R&D much of that initial investment is made individuals. Our middle class is working over time with many demands on our pocket book. North America does not make a profit at the same rate as China partly because of our innovative economy which sets us apart from other economies. To compete we must continue to make quality products and develop new offerings that the world will choose to help develop and embrace. North America does not have an extensive under ground economy as China. We pay taxes and invest in new innovative solutions that we must assure are developed in our economy and like minded economies that understand that not all our content is free. We spend much of our resources helping others. We can not leave the country as many from other nations do when the economy goes side ways. We must stay and battle for our future while others come and go. If we all go to other nations to prosper how will our own economy prosper? Innovative solutions is our competitive advantage. Our ability to design solutions people want and need is our tradition of excellence.

We can do better.

Peace,

E-T

RE: US-centric data
nastebu @ 2/10/2010 11:36:05 AM # Q
rpa wrote:
I wonder what the value is of such research in the US market where carriers control access to technology. There are many people in the US locked in a 2 year contract with the subsidized handset they got with their plan and not necessarily the handset they would buy in the market today as a stand alone purchase all other things being equal.

But the "research" is in market share, not innovation. So why the consumer chose the handset they're using isn't the point--just which companies get their handsets into the most consumers' hands.


rpa wrote:
The international market is where the innovation can be more accurately measured and from an unscientific "survey" (the folks I see carrying handsets around in Asia), my take is Apple has a lock on the consumer side and RIM owns the corporate space for smart phones.

Careful throwing "Asia" around so lightly. RIM barely exists in Japan, and the iPhone was quite slow in gaining traction. The second part seems to be changing. My dry cleaning lady recently spontaneously started asking me about my iPhone!

RE: US-centric data
Gekko @ 2/10/2010 11:46:40 AM # Q
>My dry cleaning lady recently spontaneously started asking me about my iPhone!

uh oh. maybe it's time to short AAPL.

white rice?

RE: US-centric data
rpa @ 2/10/2010 3:15:25 PM # Q
nastebu: point taken about the use of the term "Asia". Japan is a major economy that we in south Asia tend to treat as a separate area. "Asia" from the SE Asian perspective covers everything between Japan and Australia.

Japan is also a totally separate market for cellular technology as is Korea. They have their own flavor of CDMA and many very cool domestic phones making it hard for any foreign maker to penetrate. They like flip phones with huge screens.

RE: US-centric data
e_tellurian @ 2/10/2010 3:39:53 PM # M Q
The world is huge and we are missing other opportunities as a consequence of being too focused in one market. Innovative economies can offer many choices they are not all free or cheap. R&D is not free. People have invested money and time into R&D this contribution to innovative solutions is not well understood in some markets and must be better understood to understand how to trade with developed economies. The cost of a new product includes the cost of R&D and would explain why new innovation is not able to compete with mature products in some markets hence the need to understand the desire to differentiate new offerings from existing or emulated offerings. Emulated offerings have no R&D costs. If we allow our economy to decline to the point where we stop embracing innovation we will harm the long term health of the innovative segment of the economy ... the engine.

Peace,

E-T

RE: US-centric data
abosco @ 2/10/2010 4:51:35 PM # M Q
rpa, can you tell us how much a comparable data plan would cost for a Nokia smartphone if an iPhone plan is ~$45?
RE: US-centric data
rpa @ 2/10/2010 11:14:36 PM # Q
I took a look at a Nokia E72 and found this plan: price of handset (after a rebate): US$35. Monthly charge for 24 months: US$38. Plan has unlimited data and 1300 minutes of talk time (800 external and 500 in the same network).
RE: US-centric data
mikecane @ 2/11/2010 8:13:15 AM # Q
>>>If everyone paid in cash and nobody took out loans, the economy would come to a standstill.

Only under the current ass-backwards monetary system. (Cue Gekko for his ignint whining.)

RE: US-centric data
Gekko @ 2/11/2010 8:23:53 AM # Q

if deadbeats would simply pay back the money they borrowed and honored the contracts they signed and lived within their means, we wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

what we have is a failure of personal responsibility.

RE: US-centric data
e_tellurian @ 2/11/2010 10:37:25 AM # M Q
Would More jobs with sustainable income help? Do PDAs need more to interact with too?

Peace,

E-T

RE: US-centric data
Gekko @ 2/11/2010 11:26:56 AM # Q

Con - your daily diet of microwave pizza, pepsi, and twitter has turned your brain to atrophied mush and reduced your thought process to 140 characters or less.

RE: US-centric data
Gekko @ 2/11/2010 11:32:48 AM # Q

in fact, i see a future for you where you do nothing but lay in bed all day twitching, awash in your own caked urine and fecal matter and are intravenously fed liquid pizza and pepsi along with a neural stream of continuous nonsensical twitter streams content and happy.

RE: US-centric data
DarthRepublican @ 2/11/2010 11:36:26 AM # Q
Gekko wrote:

if deadbeats would simply pay back the money they borrowed and honored the contracts they signed and lived within their means, we wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

what we have is a failure of personal responsibility.

Deadbeats like Goldman Sachs, General Motors, and AIG? Yeah, totally irresponsible the way they let themselves get underwater and turned to government welfare.
Palm Apologist
Shouting down the PIC Faithful Since 2009
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: US-centric data
Gekko @ 2/11/2010 11:43:47 AM # Q

yes they directly or indirectly loaned money to deadbeats. if people paid back their mortgages and personal loans and didn't default, we wouldn't have been in this mess.
RE: US-centric data
abosco @ 2/11/2010 11:52:47 AM # Q
rpa, thanks for the numbers. It's good to see the plans are competitive over there.

I think it's unfair to lump Goldman with GM and AIG. If unassisted, GS could have stayed open. They even secured private financing during the crisis - remember Buffett and his multi-billion dollar stock purchase and 10% dividend?

GM, on the other hand, needs to go out of business immediately. They represent everything that was wrong with America for the past 25 years. Hubris. Lack of innovation. Molasses.

I keep reading articles that say, "throw out the old rules of investing!" They're claiming that stock and bond returns can't be predicted, government bonds aren't secure, and diversification doesn't help losses. Unfortunately, these so-called experts aren't realizing that the fault landed precisely on a lack of diversification. Practically every investment in the world in 2007 had a hand in the US mortgage market.

It's a failure of the common US consumer to make good on their debt obligations, and it's a failure of financial professionals to properly balance risk. Both had equal parts in this mess. Without both, the individual situations wouldn't have been a problem. If there's one lesson to be learned in all of this, it's that credit scores are, indeed, important.

-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G

RE: US-centric data
e_tellurian @ 2/11/2010 12:31:44 PM # M Q
Perhaps the investment in peace will be appreciated. It's costing Canadian over $500,000 per year per soldier.

Peace,

E-T

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