When it comes to designing and marketing Smartphones, there are clear winners and losers. Unfortunately, it means that many cell phone producers, who were once-popular, are failing to keep up with the demands of today’s consumers and are subsequently faltering. Three examples of such companies include RIM, Nokia, and HTC.
It’s predicted that all three companies will continue to observe a significant decline in shipments over the next two quarters. Even if HTC Corp (TPE:2498) demonstrated an increase in shipments during the second quarter, it’s important to note that they barely reached amount of nine million units. The producer of the once-popular Blackberry phones Research In Motion Limited (TSE:RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM) has sold only eight million units.
The future is looking bleak for these three once top-performing tech companies. According to Kenny Doan from VR-Zone, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung are leading the Smartphone market with their popular products like the iPhone and Galaxy S.
Doan also noted that Nokia has been struggling ever since Smartphones have hit the market, and even though they teamed up with Windows to create a competitor Smartphone platform, it’s not selling as well as they would like it too. One source claimed, “It will also be more difficult for Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) to push sales of Windows Phone 7.5-based models in the third quarter as consumers are waiting for the launch of Windows Phone 8 Smartphones”.
Not too much time passed since Research In Motion (RIM) said their word in the phone industry with the Blackberry. These phones were the essential tools of businessmen. That was before iPhone presentation, after it people desired a sleeker looking phone that was faster, had more impressive features, and access to hundreds of apps that people don’t really need but still want. So far, RIM is not going to give up yet. It’s been reported that they’re spending over $1 billion to create and promote their upcoming Blackberry 10.
So far, HTC looks slightly better than Nokia and RIM. Their most important concern right now comes from top Android maker Samsung. Both makers have popular top phones (Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC One X) but it’s obvious that Samsung is winning the battle by margin.
What is the future preparing for the three under-performing Smartphone brands? Although nobody knows the exact future of the mentioned companies, I believe it’s safe to assume that at least two of them won’t be around in two years. While it’s sad to see the choices dwindling from the market, I think an important lesson can be learned here.
