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Apple saw its share of the global smartphone market continue to climb in the first quarter, closing the gap on market-leader Nokia Corp., according to data from IDC. In a report Thursday, IDC said Apple ended the first quarter with 18.7% of the global smartphone market, up from 16.1% in the fourth quarter. The growth came as the company expanded its popular iPhone into new carriers such as Verizon Wireless. Nokia saw its own share of the market slip further, to 24.3% from 28% in the fourth quarter. The Finnish cellphone maker is undergoing a massive restructuring effort and is expected to launch new smartphones using the Windows Phone 7 operating system from Microsoft Corp. sometime next year.

Overall smartphone shipments jumped nearly 80% from last year’s first quarter. Shipments hit nearly 100 million units for the quarter, IDC said.

“Conditions in the smartphone market are creating a perfect storm for sustained smartphone growth,” senior analyst Ramon Llamas said in the report.

Llamas cited a widening range of available devices as key to the growth, with more models available in the mid- to low-ranges. And pricing has become increasingly competitive in the space, he said.

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, saw its global market share slip to 14% from 14.5% in the fourth quarter. The company surprised investors last week by lowering its guidance for the May quarter, as sales of high-end devices slow and emerging markets began slowing down orders.

Growing popularity of the Android mobile platform from Google Inc. helped vendors Samsung and HTC Corp. pick up share in the first quarter.

Samsung went to 10.8% from 9.6% in the fourth quarter, thanks to strong demand for its Galaxy line of smartphones. HTC grew from 8.5% in the fourth quarter to 8.9%

Labels: Iphone

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