Fixed Mobile Convergence

Shipments of handsets to North America declined 6.63 percent in Q3 2011 to 48.24 million units compared to the same period in 2010, according to a new research report from Signals and Systems Telecom.

Overall handset shipments for the first three quarters of 2011 are up 2.10 percent against the corresponding period in 2010. The industry is expecting a robust Q4 figure. The full year shipments are likely to exceed the 2010 total.

The new report called “North America Handset Shipments, Vendor Market Share, Strategies and Key Trends Q3'2011,” was announced by MarketResearch.

Smartphone major Samsung (News - Alert) has achieved a Q3 2011 market share of 30.15 percent of all shipments to North America. Its nearest rival, Korean LG boasts 16.75 percent share.

HTC (News - Alert) has a Q3 2011 market share of 12.35 percent, which reflects substantial growth year on year and quarter on quarter since it entered the North American market in 2008, according to a press statement.

Apple's (News - Alert) iPhones have gained an 11.10 percent share in Q3 though this was a decline on both previous 2011 quarters but it is still up on 2010 shipments overall.

Motorola Mobility retained its 5th position for Q3 with 7.75 percent share while RIM's BlackBerry range of handsets kept a 6.69 percent Q3 share.

Huawei has increased its share every quarter since its launch on the North American market in 2008 to now reach a 4.40 percent share in Q3 2011.

ZTE (News - Alert) and Pantech are recent entrants to the North American market in 2009 and they captured Q3 share of 2.72 percent and 2.51 respectively. Kyocera holds a Q3 share of 2.09 percent ahead of Nokia's (News - Alert) 1.47 percent, which is a dramatic fall from its third place 16.71 percent share in 2005.

Recently, Signals and Systems Telecom announced that the Asia Pacific region witnessed 172.56 million units handset shipment with a massive 24.91 percent increase over the same period in 2010 (138.15 million units).