Smartphones running on Google’s Android operating system have ousted Nokia – for years the undisputed leader on Ukraine’s market – from its top-selling slot.
Sales of Android-based Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and HTC soared from 14 to 46 percent of total smartphones sales in 2011, while Nokia sales dropped from 72 to 37 percent during the same period, according to data quoted by Viktor Sholoshenko, marketing director at electronics retailer Citrus Discount. That’s a clear shift away from Nokia’s dominance of smartphone sales in Ukraine during prior years.
Modern mobile telecommunications are shifting from mobile phones to smartphones, which saw a 97 percent increase in sales in Ukraine in 2011, according to market research firm GfK Ukraine.
The trend in Ukraine reflects shifts worldwide that have seen Android rise at the expense of Nokia and its Symbian operating system. Nokia has been able to cling to the top in Ukraine, however, because of the small number of iPhones and Blackberries, Sholoshenko said. Experts say the focus of consumers is increasingly shifting from phone brands to operating systems
A Samsung Galaxy Nexus ( at right) and a Nokia smartphone (at left).
Google’s Android is riding on the crest of the wave, but could gain even more dominance with the release of the latest version of its operating system, Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich. The first smartphone running on the new system is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, scheduled for release in Ukraine at the end of February. The new system offers increased speed and functionality and can be used on tablets and computers as well as smartphones.
The main competition to Android smartphones in Ukraine comes from Nokia, despite its loss in market share in recent years. The company announced last year that it would ditch its Symbian operating system and has already released phones using Windows Phone, which insiders say should hit Ukraine in March.
Battle among Nokia, Apple and Samsung expected to get hotter.
Apple’s iOS operating system, which has become a major player worldwide on Apple’s popular iPhones, has yet to make a significant mark in Ukraine, with only 3 percent of 2011 sales.
Sales are held back by its high price tag relative to other smartphones, the absence of an official iStore in Ukraine and the fact that the phones did not have certification in Ukraine until last summer.
Despite the obstacles, iPhone sales are rising, as its supporters are gripped by “fanaticism comparable to religion,” Citrus Discount’s Sholoshenko said. He said that owners of iPhones or iPads are different from other users because of their intense sense of loyalty to the Apple brand.
The third power on the global operating systems market is Research in Motion’s Blackberry, which primarily targets business customers with its advantages of direct access to mail and advanced security features.
Viktor Sholoshenko
But RIM did not yet reach the high sales levels of Europe and the U.S. in Ukraine, where the only mobile operator that provides service for Blackberry is MTS, the country’s second biggest operator. The service is provided on contract with a monthly fee of Hr 199.
“This is already a restriction,” Sholoshenko said. “Projects that are locked up to one operator do not become successful in Ukraine.” The corporate sector, the main target of the device, is also far from Western sales volumes.
Even though operating systems generate increased consumer attention, brands remain still an important factor in their choice. “Brands still play a great role in consumers’ preferences, as they build perception of reliability,” said Yulia Besedina, marketing manager of mobile communications department at LG Electronics Ukraine, whose smartphone sales grew almost fourfold last year.
Meanwhile, bigger players are willing to compete for a growing pie of a smartphone market. Microsoft has developed the Windows Phone operating system that is expected become a rival to Android. As well as Nokia, Samsung and HTC have phones that operate on that system already for sale in Ukraine.
“Producers of Samsung, HTC and LG are interested in another operating system because Android has become a monopolist,” Citrus Discount’s Sholoshenko said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Maryna Irkliyenko can be reached at [email protected].
