Smartphone Shootout: Winners and Losers of the Q2 Battle

Androids, iPhones and Symbians: Oh My!

The second quarter results are in. Stalwarts have fallen. New stars are rising, and a new king is crowned.

Generally, the environment was good for the industry, as global smartphone shipments grew an impressive 76 percent annually to reach a record 110 million units in the second quarter of 2011.

But in a surprise the long-time, perennial leader has fallen two places while two relatively new players are taking the top spots.

Could this quarter mark the beginning of a new generation dominant smartphone leaders?

Click Start to see the Winners and Losers of this quarters smartphone sales.

Photo:Google / Verizon Smartphone Shootout: Google Nexus S Vs. Motorola Droid 3

Motorola

Motorola shipped 4.4 million smartphones in Q2 as sales into APAC were enough to offset Motorola’s iPhone-induced decline at Verizon Wireless.

Photo:HTC Following the company's slew of legal battles with Apple, HTC boss Martin Fichter has spoken out against the iPhone maker claiming its legal policy shows Apple are just "not that cool anymore."

HTC

HTC continued its rise to the middle with 11.5 million shipments in Q2 and 113% growth YoY.

Photo:Reuters BlackBerry maker slashes 2,000 jobs amid competitive pressures.

Research in Motion

RIM’s growth in international markets was not enough to offset its decline in North America. RIM shipped 13.2 million smartphones representing an 11% QoQ drop.

Photo:REUTERS Staff members speak to trade visitors at the Nokia booth at the CommunicAsia expo in Singapore June 21, 2011.

Nokia

The perennial leader in smartphone shipments tumbled to 3rd place this quarter with 16.7 million devices shipped. Nokia’s smartphone market share has plummeted from 38% last year and 24% last quarter to only 16% in Q2.

Photo:REUTERS/Truth Leem Models pose with Samsung Electronics' new smartphone Galaxy S II at the company's headquarters in Seoul April 28, 2011.

Samsung

Samsung had an amazing Q2 with approximately 19 million smartphone shipments and over five million Galaxy S II shipments in its first 85 days. Samsung’s 500% YoY growth shows that going forward, the top smartphone OEM position is Samsung’s to lose.

Photo:REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton An iPhone is seen at the Apple store in New York May 23, 2011.

Apple

Driven by the added distribution muscle of Verizon Wireless and China’s growing appetite for premium smartphones, Apple posted record shipments in Q2 of 20.3 million to become the top smartphone OEM after only four years in the business.

"Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share," said Strategy Analytics analyst Alex Spektor. "Apple's growth remained strong as it expanded distribution worldwide, particularly in China and Asia."