iPhone shows 327 percent market share gain in Q3

by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld.com

Apple’s iPhone showed a 327.5 percent market share gain in worldwide smartphone sales for the third-quarter as the overall industry slowed, according to new research from Gartner.

Apple’s market share rose from 3.4 percent in the third-quarter of 2007 to 12.9 percent in the third-quarter of 2008, putting the company in third place behind Nokia and Research In Motion.

Nokia retained its lead in the smartphone market, although its market share fell 3.1 percent to 42.4 percent. Research In Motion’s BlackBerry saw a big gain of 81.7 percent as it moved into second place worldwide with 15.9 percent in the third-quarter of 2008.

HTC and Sharp rounded out the top five smartphone manufactures with 4.5 percent market share and 3.4 percent market share, respectively.

In North America, Apple is in second place behind Research In Motion with 25.4 percent market share. Apple also captured second place in the European market behind Nokia with a 15.6 percent market share.

Overall, the worldwide economy has slowed smartphone growth in the third-quarter with an 11.5 percent increase. Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza said smartphone sales should continue to grow, but at a slower pace.

Cozza also noted that, for the first time, iPhone sales exceeded sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices worldwide and in North America.