Finland's Nokia made a surprising move this week as it announced a new Android 5.0 based tablet, coined the Nokia N1. Just to be clear, this is from the company that remains headquartered in Finland and not the "Devices & Services" division that was sold to Microsoft (now called Microsoft Mobile). This announcement caught most observers off guard and could have some interesting implications.

With the iPhone 6 (and 6 Plus) launch just around the corner, this may be a good time to review smartphone market share and usage share trends around the world. As these data points reflect the tail end of the iPhone's product cycle, we should expect a market share bounce over the coming months. On the other hand, movements in usage share are unlikely to be as sharp.

IDC announced their smartphone shipment estimates for Q2 2014 last week, but the chart above seems to have captured all the attention. Regular readers may already be aware that I am a proponent of usage-based segmentation, rather than price-based segmentation. However, data can always be useful when interpreted correctly.

There has been considerable debate about the metrics used to define performance in the smartphone industry. Because of the regionally fragmented nature of distribution, some view global market share figures with cynicism. My argument was that market share patterns by country could give us a better understanding of these trends. While market share of shipments is certainly a leading indicator for install base (and consequently, usage), it only gives us a part of the story. Contrasting regional market share and usage share (as a proxy for install base) may give us an even better understanding.

Earlier this week, Nokia announced a line of Android-based smartphones with a combination of Nokia/Microsoft services replacing Google services. While some industry observers were quick to praise this move, there are many unknowns about the goal of this strategy. In my opinion, Microsoft is following one or more of four possible game plans.

It's time again for my quarterly recap of smartphone market share figures from Gartner and Kantar. For those who missed it, here's the Q3 recap. In Q4, Android continued to dominate the charts, while the iPhone saw a lower than expected seasonal bump. And as I expected, Windows Phone's recent growth seems to have stalled.

Yesterday, Nokia posted their final financial results before the the Microsoft deal closes. Unfortunately, the part of Nokia being sold Microsoft doesn't seem to be in great shape. Nokia's recent traction with the Lumia range seems to have stalled as they announced a 7% sequential decline in unit sales. Let's take a brief look at the causes of the decline and what Microsoft is really buying.

Today, Microsoft finds itself in a curious predicament -- The Company is in search of a new CEO even as it remains in the midst of an organization-wide reorganization towards a "devices & services" strategy. While I will refrain from speculating on the identity of this mystery CEO, it would seem that his job will be to effectively execute this strategy, instead of undertaking a strategic review. This may seem like a handicap, but is there more than just one way to execute this strategy.

It's time for my quarterly recap of smartphone market share trends by region. As usual, global sales figures are from Gartner, while region-wise market share figures are from Kantar. In Q3, Android continued to lead the market, the iPhone saw a cyclical decline leading up to the iPhone 5C/5S launch and Windows Phone continued to grow at a smaller scale.

Over the past week, both Blackberry and Nokia were in the news for very different reasons. Blackberry abruptly abandoned their auction process and opted to raise $1 billion in debt to attempt a turnaround. Meanwhile, as the Microsoft deal awaits closing, Nokia announced that Lumia shipments hit an all-time high in the most recent quarter. Let's take a deeper look at the prospects of each company.

It's time again for my quarterly review of global smartphone market share trends. Global data for Q2 2013 is sourced from Gartner, while country-wise data is sourced from Kantar's monthly reports. Overall, Android has consolidated its position as the leading smartphone platform, while the iPhone continued to lose ground heading into launch season. In contrast, Windows Phone's market share patterns are interesting as they aren't really consistent across similar regions.

Microsoft's stock reacted violently to the Q4 results announcement last week, by shedding more than 11% of its value. Microsoft missed revenue and earnings estimates by a wide margin and took a $900 million charge for Surface RT inventory. While most analysts and media houses have focused on this writedown, the overall state of Microsoft's PC business may be far worse.

Nokia announced financial results for Q2 2013 that missed consensus analyst estimates. Nokia reported a rise in Lumia shipments, to 7.4 million, and a drop in feature phone shipments, to 53.7 million. However, sharp drops in respective ASPs along with flat operating expenses led to a loss and cash burn of more than €400 million.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Microsoft was in discussions to buy Nokia's handset business but talks broke down over the valuation. This development could help explain Nokia's strategic mis-steps over the last few years.

The tech media has long been obsessed with the semantic differences between smartphone shipments and sales. In reality, all figures announced by companies, and those announced by IDC, are shipments (also known as channel sales or sell-in). Gartner is the only research house that tracks sales to end users (also known as sell-through). Comparing data from IDC and Gartner can give us good insight into channel inventory patterns across different smartphone platforms. This data suggests that Nokia & Windows Phone may be in for some trouble in the next few quarters.

It's time again for my quarterly review of smartphone market share trends around the globe. While I initially considered doing this semi-annually, I've been requested to make it a quarterly feature. As always, Q1 2013 data is sourced from Gartner and Kantar Worldpanel reports and complemented with reports from other research houses as and when available.

Microsoft recently unveiled that the Windows Phone Store has about 145,000 apps available. Based on this figure, app growth for the Windows Phone platform seems to be slowing. Windows Phone 8 was supposed to help drive developer interest, but has done nothing to stem this slowdown after being on the market for 6+ months.

Over the last few years, mobile platforms like Android & iOS have gained market share in computing systems at the expense of legacy WinTel-based devices, i.e. traditional PCs. The chart above gives us a great snapshot of the impact of Post-PC platforms. We can also use this data to compare how platform market share concentration changed over time in the PC industry and contrast it with the first few years of the mobile revolution.

Nokia's stock price crashed by over 10% on mixed Q1 2013 results. Nokia's Lumia range finally seemed to be picking up some traction, with 5.6 million shipments, but this was offset by Symbian shipments dropping to just 0.5 million. However, Nokia's feature phone business seems to be collapsing, showing a 30% sequential decline and a 21% annual decline. Using Nokia's announced figures, let's attempt to estimate their smartphone and feature phone shipments by region and gauge their smartphone migration efforts.

IDC recently released their global smartphone shipment figures and the list of top five vendors looks very different from what an industry watcher may have been used to. While Samsung and Apple have retained their industry leading positions, RIM, HTC & Nokia no longer make the list and have been overtaken by Sony, ZTE & Huawei. Let's take a look at the drivers of success & failure in this market.