Mobile device sales up 13.8 percent in Q2

The report also notes that sales of media tablets such as Apple’s iPad did not appear to affect smartphones sales, presumably because users do not consider the two interchangeable.

“Crucially, as we predicted, the sudden growth in media tablets, such as the Apple iPad, did not appear to hold back smartphone sales. We believe that most tablet users still feel the need for a truly pocketable, yet highly capable, device for those situations when it’s inconvenient to carry a device with a larger form factor,”  Milanesi said.

Android overtook Apple’s iPhone OS to become the third most-popular mobile platform in the world. In the U.S. it passed Research in Motion’s Blackberry OS to become the most popular smartphone operating system in the country.

“A non-exclusive strategy that produces products selling across many communication service providers (CSPs), and the backing of so many device manufacturers, which are bringing more attractive devices to market at several different price points, were among the factors that yielded its growth this quarter,” Milanesi said.

Samsung and Nokia were able to maintain their leadership in market share but watched their margins drop as they struggle to compete in the market for high-end smartphones. Conversely,  Apple and Research In Motion introduced new smartphones this quarter and saw market share increase, but both remain in the middle of the pack with less than 3.5 percent of the global mobile market.