Apple Inc. Dutch Sales Impressive; BlackBerry Ltd, Nokia Not So Much

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone is catching on with Dutch mobile users, who are moving away from the devices offered by BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK). Also, other players in the smartphone arena including Sony, LG and Huawei are gaining popularity, as well, says a report from Telecompaper.

Apple, Android gaining

According to the report, around 72% of mobile users in the Netherlands had a smartphone in 2013, compared to 56% in 2012. The Korean firm Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) was again the market leader in both smartphone and feature phone category with 44% of the market share, while Nokia with 16% came in at second, followed by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) with 15%. Over the last two years, around 71% of current iPhone owners opted for the same brand when repurchasing. During the same period, Apple launched three new models including 5, 5c and 5s. Furthermore, around 23% of new Apple users switched from Samsung. Apart from Samsung, Apple also gained new users from Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) and BlackBerry, at 16.4% and 14.6%, respectively.

Huawei, which is a relatively new brand in the Dutch market, has shown immense potential over the last couple of years. The company has good brand recognition along with offering high quality smartphones at low prices. Huawei has gained around 30% of its users from Nokia and Samsung, 14% from HTC and 10% from LG. More than 73% of Dutch buyers who bought a Sony phone did not previously own a Sony. Sony’s new sales came primarily from Samsung (27%), Nokia (17%) and HTC (10%).

The Android platform accounted for 70% of all the smartphones in Netherlands. Telecompaper also found that almost three-quarters of Dutch smartphone owners are interested in continuing with their current operating system.

Nokia, BlackBerry not so impressive

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), the Finnish company which was once the market leader, has not gained any major traction. Around 41% of users who went for Nokia last year now belong to other brands, including feature phones. Nokia lost most of its users to Samsung (42%).

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) was able to retain only 9% of its users. The Canadian firm, like Nokia, has been experiencing a sharp decline despite launching a new mobile operating system and new devices including the Z10 and Q10. To undertake a turnaround, BlackBerry is now making cheaper handsets for emerging markets in collaboration with Foxconn.

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