HTC Clings to No. 5 Spot Despite Smartphone Plunge

Taiwan’s HTC remains the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker despite loss of market share to Samsung and Apple, according to US-based International Data Corp.

HTC’s smartphone shipments plunged 23.3% to 6.9 million in Q1 of 2012 even as global smartphone sales soared 42.5% from a year ago to 144.9 million for the quarter. That leaves HTC with a 4.8% share of the global market, far below the 8.9% share it held in Q1 of 2011.

HTC has seen an alarming erosion in the US market but has enjoyed strong enough sales in the Asia-Pacific region to hang on to a place among the world’s top five smartphone vendors, according to IDC.

As widely anticipated, Samsung overtook Apple for the top position in smartphone sales with record quarterly shipments of 42.2 million phones for 29.1% share of the market. Apple’s shipment of 35.1 million gave it a 24.2% share.

Nokia’s shipment of 11.9 million smartphones represents a dizzying 50.8% plunge since the year-ago quarter, giving it a third-place 8.2% market share. In Q1 of 2011 it had shipped 24.2 million units.

Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) suffered a 29.7% drop year-on-year to ship 9.7 million phones, down from 13.8 million in Q1 of 2011. That gives it a 6.7% share for 4th place.