Touch screens conquer 55% of smartphone market globally

USA-based independent research firm Canalys has revealed that smartphones with touch screens amounted for more than half of all smart phone shipments globally in the fourth quarter of 2009-10, taking 55 percent of the market share. Touch screen smartphone shipments were up 138 per cent year on year in this period, reaching almost 30 million units. Canalys pegs the total touch screen smartphone shipments for the year at over 75 million, more than double the previous year’s figure. Total smartphone shipments in 2009 reached a peak of 166 million units.
The firm carried out an independent research with 4,000 consumers towards the end of last year which showed that 60 per cent of those interviewed wanted a touch screen interface on their next mobile phone. However, some existing users said they will switch back to a different interface.
Canalys research highlights also reveal that Symbian certainly remained the largest smart phone operating system by shipment volume in 2009, increasing in absolute terms despite losing share to the much faster growing RIM, Apple and Android. Further, the report also mentions that the handset vendors whose users have the highest propensity to stay loyal to their current brand are Apple, Nokia and RIM.
“Looking at the whole of 2009, it is no great surprise to see Apple at the top of the table of leading vendors of touch-screen smart phones,” said Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd in a company statement. Further, he adds “Nokia stands out as a very close second, due to the decent growth of models such as the Nokia 5800 and N97. And Nokia was actually the leading vendor by volume of touch-screen smart phones in the final quarter of the year.” HTC and Samsung took the third and fourth place, though Canalys notes that Samsung also ships a lot of its touch-screen mobile phones that are not smart phones.
Canalys provides market data, analysis and advice to the world’s technology vendors It has its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore.