Motorola and Samsung steal Smartphone market from HTC?

Although Motorola's market share has been steadily sliding to the delight of Nokia and Samsung, DigiTimes would have you believe that Moto reigns supreme in the global Windows Mobile Smartphone segment. Citing "internal data from Microsoft," the oft-wrong, occasionally correct tattle-rag claims that HTC's share of the WinMo Standard space has declined leaving Moto with the largest market share -- beating Samsung by, "a small margin." This after HTC saw a 50% Smartphone domination during Microsoft's Jul 2006 - Jul 2007 fiscal year. HTC still maintains a 50% market share for WinMo Professional touch-screen devices. Of course, this could be true. After all, Moto has refocused their attention to high-margin, full-featured handsets at the expense of emerging markets and entry level yawners. And you can't swing an HTC Vox without knocking over a dozen Qs. Still, until we hear otherwise, take this rumor with a quarry-sized load of rock salt.

[john @ Jan 29th 2008 3:21AM]

aaaaamazing

[E71 @ Jan 29th 2008 3:34AM]

I sure hope they keep it up, I hate HTC ever since the whole missing drivers debacle.

[Mark @ Jan 29th 2008 9:01PM]

Yeah, I'm glad as well. HTC, just like MS, needs a major kick up its butt. It has to innovate, not sit on its laurels.

I just got an HTC Touch from Sprint, but that was more due to a severe lack of full-featured phones rather than a love of HTC. In the end, I got the Touch cheaper than the Razr2, which is a basic phone.

I loved my Moto Q, and the software and tweaks Moto added really made it more usable than my previous few HTC devices. Same with the blackjack I and II.

All the while HTC is trying to take its dog-tired side-sliding design from PDA's to Smartphones. How un-innovative.

[Arjan @ Jan 29th 2008 3:26AM]

Make that 2 quarry sized loads of rock salt... What do those fortune tellers over at gartner have to say?

[iphone-lover @ Jan 29th 2008 3:38AM]

I still believe iPhone is supreme in the Smartphone category. :)

Mars M

[Poom @ Jan 29th 2008 4:24AM]

The iPhone is not a smartphone untill the Apple SDK is out and widely used, or untill you hacked the phone. Still, I believe that lacking so many features common to smartphones like MULTITASKING and copy/paste makes me irritate when someone calls the iPhone a "smartphone", even if you can install apps on it.

Also, the iPhone is not supreme in terms of world marketshare as well as features...

What I'm saying is, I totally disagree with this post.

[Poom @ Jan 29th 2008 4:38AM]

Sorry I forgot something. Actually, I have to give Apple credits for making the iPhone "supreme" in the wow factors, like it always does with its products, and perhaps the user interface. But it ends there...

[Zip @ Jan 29th 2008 4:40AM]

I do love current Nokia's smartphones (older where slow). No wonder they control smartphone segment globally. Thought BB has some quality prodcucts coming in 3gms so will Nokia too thought.

[silverblackvoid @ Jan 29th 2008 4:43AM]

do u even know what a smartphone really is friend-o?

[Arjan @ Jan 29th 2008 3:55AM]

I'd take an HTC anyday..

Arjan,

[MjW @ Jan 29th 2008 5:22AM]

The usual apple products like iPhone, iTouch, iPod and Macbook Air with the exception of the Macbook Pro series are mostly fashion statements than feature competitive products.

Feature wise and quality wise they are very mediocre to the competition. They do though very well in the market outselling most of the competition but that due to the consumers who prefer fancy and looking cool stuff for their basic needs over practical, feature rich tools.

I prefer functionality and practicality first.

The only exception is the Macbook Pro and the normal Macs which are made to serve properly every professional and casual need and they will probably never disappoint.

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 29th 2008 6:27AM]

I don't like motorola, but samsung is pretty good. But the best it is HTC at the time, which is Verizon to at&t, because of the AT&T tilt. I was going to get the Samsung SGH-I760 on verizon, but compared to the tilt, it's not tha great. HTC makes the ultra-high end smartphones along with the entry-level, but motorola's and samsung's are more midrange. And motorola just has weird design.

[Jughead @ Jan 29th 2008 8:24AM]

It's due to price and ease of use in the corporate world. My company only uses Moto Q's because we typically get them for free after rebate or make money on them after rebate. Also there is no touch screen to ruin and it uses a scroll wheel like a blackberry. It's a phone that you can view your email on.

My company got me the HTC XV6800 which cost $200 in the end and it's a PDA that sucks to be used as a phone. One thing though, I can run Opera Mini :)

[Neoprimal @ Jan 29th 2008 8:31AM]

Moto has climbed a bit because and only because of new deals on these devices from providers that are now selling them for $99 to new customers. In essence, they're replacing their own entry level so-so music phones for smartphones with that pricing scheme. I don't know if HTC refuses to or just can't afford having these deals...but it's pretty evident that at the moment they started getting the phones to new customers at $99 is the time they started to gain some real marketshare.

[bachviet @ Jan 29th 2008 11:33AM]

Not really since you have to sign up for the data plan ($30/month) so you could qualify for the rebate(s), which would make the phone $99.

I prefer unlocked/unbranded phones anyway.

[Johnny5 @ Jan 29th 2008 9:27AM]

Does anyone else think moto ought to make that their new logo?

[Mrmean @ Jan 29th 2008 10:28AM]

LOL @ HTC

[JSM @ Jan 29th 2008 11:08AM]

Why is this even a question, or surprising to anyone? HTC has been shoveling out warmed over products for years, coasting on designs that looked and felt outdated two and three years ago. It's amusing to see all the Tilt comments on this and other articles (oh, it's so great) a classic example of the justify-my-purchase syndrome. There is nothing substantially different between the antique XV6700 and the Tilt, except the Tile, well... tilts, instead of sliding, wowweee! I dislike the apple fanboys as much as the next guys (and lived through the apple II vs pc arguments, so get off my lawn you damn kids) but take a look at the iphone HARDWARE (already a year old) and then tell me that HTC is not a dying company sliding into irrelevance. Who cares if you can run Opera if you're doing it on a poor qvga screen. Add a thin sliding (or tilting or twisting) keyboard and a digitizer to the iphone form factor and you have something a competitive company would have released as an xv6800 18 months ago. The touch? QVGA!? 9 months after the iphone!?! The smartphone consumer can only be left with the feeling that HTC is taking a sizeable crap on you through your chosen cell provider.

I say good riddance so that they can be a lesson to any other allegedly consumer oriented hardware company who choses short term profit over design, market responsiveness, and customer service.

[Bearxor @ Jan 29th 2008 5:01PM]

Precisely.

HTC has not innovated in this space for at least 4 years now. I'd have to say the Blue Angel/Harrier was the last really solid release from HTC, and just to give those of you not in the know, it was running Windows Mobile 2003.

The successor and all phones based off of it (6700+) have been... well, they've been shitty. HTC needs to spend as much time innovating in software and usability as they do in hardware. That's my problem with HTC phones (besides hating side-sliders) is that the software engineering doesn't match it.

Say what you will about Palm, but I'll take the under-powered but software-optimized Treo 700wx over the 6700, 6800 or Tilt any day. In fact I have. I went from a 6600 that broke and Sprint tried to saddle me with a 6700. Worst WM Phone I'd ever used. Even worse than my old Toshiba 2032SP. After that I tried the 6800 for a bout a month when it came out and the Treo still runs circles around it.

Really looking forward to that Treo 800w anytime now Palm...

[meeek @ Jan 29th 2008 11:21PM]

will future motorola and samsung phones include video drivers? =P

[medici @ Jan 30th 2008 2:26AM]

Come to think of it, neither HTC, Motorola, Samsung or Nokia have done anything innovative in the last 2 years. Is there realy no company that is smart enough to combine a BBerry/Treo with Iphone form factor (mazimize screen & easy user interface) plus keyboard? Hopefully we see something this year.

[CanCar @ Jan 31st 2008 10:14AM]

Nokia increased its share of the global mobile in the first quarter of 2007 but growth in the industry has slowed considerably.

[Z @ Mar 24th 2008 1:43PM]

what in ur opinion is the best smartphone???