Russian handset market reaches 9.7 million units in Q2, with smartphones accounting for 39% of total shipments: IDC

Kendall Sinclair

MOSCOW , November 5, 2013 (press release) – Smartphones captured an increasing portion of the Russian handset market in the second quarter of 2013, accounting for 39% of total shipments. According to research by International Data Corporation (IDC), total quarterly handset shipments reached 9.7 million units.

"Smartphones now account for nearly two handsets sold in five in Russia," says Simon Baker, program manager for mobile devices at IDC in Moscow. "Russia's smartphone market is catching up with more developed countries where the market has almost reached saturation," he adds.

Samsung continues to hold almost half of the total handset market in Russia, while Nokia's share has fallen to less than a quarter. Samsung's smartphone share dipped slightly in the first quarter, from 55.4% to 52.1%, but the brand still sold more than six times as many smartphones in Russia as its nearest rival, Apple – which was not far ahead of Sony, followed by Nokia and HTC.

The most popular smartphone model was Samsung's Wave Y, while the vendor's top-of-the-line Galaxy S4 and its predecessor S3 sold well in both full-size and mini versions.

Android represented 73.3% share of the market in OS terms. Samsung's Bada, a version of Linux, came second with 9.0% market share, but sales are declining. Windows held its ground in third position with 8.6% market share, slightly ahead of iOS at 8.3%. Nokia's Symbian OS has virtually vanished from the market.

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