Could Apple ever outsell? It's an interesting question and one that has been thrown up by new research. Nokia may be about to lose it's position as the market leader and Number One smartphone expert as the new comer with just one device to its name is set to rush in and steal the family jewels.
Will we all be switching our allegiances to Apple in the next couple of years? That’s the suggestion made by UK market research firm, Generator Research. They’ve even looked into their collective crystal balls and come up with the year it will all happen…
... 2013! Yes, this is the year we can apparently all say farewell to Nokia and it’s reign as the Number One smartphone manufacturer, as this will be the year for Apple to take the crown. That is according to the report published by Generator Research, Apple will have expanded their range of smartphones to such an extent that 2013 will see them nabbing as much as 40 per cent of the market.
Where does this leave Nokia? Well, the analysts put them back to considerably less than 30 per cent. The figures being bandied about are as many as 77 million phones sold by Apple in 2013, while you’ll only find 38.5 million Noks knocking about.
This isn’t all just guess work either, as the analysts have looked at trends and come up with a couple of ideas to back their claims. The most obvious is that Apple is more focussed on smartphones, in fact as it only has one device, that’s all it does concentrate on, while Nokia delivers devices and services across the board.
However, the biggest earner will come from Apple’s AppStore, as the research points at integrated apps and services that will drive revenue and market share. But isn’t this something that Nokia already has in place and is ramping up across the board? It offers a host of services and tools to more than just core fans, helping to drive tomorrows heavy users who may at the moment only want/need basic apps.
If you actually look at the latest sales figures, this analysis simply doesn't add up. Nokia smatphones, across both Eseries and Nseries currently take 38.9 per cent of the market and while Apple has made in-roads to take 17.7 per cent (figures from Canalys), this means that Nokia sold 15.5 million phones in Q3 of 2008. What's more, this is just in an average quarter. When you consider the Nokia N95 sold 15 million and Nokia has a whole slew of devices, the iPhone looks a little lonely and precarious.
If you take into account the whole sale of Symbian-based phones and this number rises to 18.6 million. This leaves Apple trailing considerable behind with 6.9 million, and a rough calculation of for every Apple iPhone that gets sold, there are getting on for three Nokia devices sold.
What do you think - Bunkum or a ballsy prediction of the future to come? We’ll have to see what the future has in store but what do you think, will we all find ourselves climbing onboard the Apple wagon, or has your Nok got long-term appeal?