The worldwide smartphone market grew 50% year over year in the second quarter of 2010 (2Q10), driven in large part by makers of smartphones powered by Google's Android operating system, though Apple maintained its number three position globaly, according to a new report by the IDC (http://www.idc.com) research group

Vendors of converged mobile devices, more commonly known as smartphones, shipped a total of 63 million units in the second quarter of 2010 (2Q10), compared to 41.9 million units in the same period one year ago. For the first half of 2010, vendors shipped a total of 118.3 million units, up 54% from the 76.8 million units shipped during the first half of 2009.

Google's smartphone partners, such as HTC and Samsung, posted the highest year-over-year growth rates in IDC's 2Q10 smartphone Top 10 vendor rankings. In fact, four of the top ten vendors, all of whom predominantly ship Android-powered smartphones, posted year-over-year growth rates greater than 100%. The top supplier of Android devices last quarter, on a unit shipment basis, was HTC.

"Emerging smartphone suppliers, such as HTC, that are allied closely with Google gained share at the expense of the historic top smartphone players last quarter," says Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker program. "This is largely a result of greater consumer interest in smartphones generally and Android devices in particular."

Apple maintained its global number three smartphone supplier position thanks to record shipments, despite the furor over iPhone 4 reception problems. However, its global share and shipment growth both dipped year-over-year, according to IDC. Overall, Apple continues to benefit from high consumer awareness and international expansion efforts. Apple is set to introduce the iPhone 4 to users in 17 countries in the third quarter, says the research group.
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