Nokia drops from list of top five smartphone vendors, replaced by RIM

Nokia has been knocked out of IDC's list of global top five smartphone companies by mobile devices firm RIM.

IDC has been running its Mobile Phone Tracker report since 2004, and this is the first time Nokia has slipped out of the smartphone top five.

IDC's report recorded a 2.4 per cent increase in the mobile phone market in Q3 2012. In the smartphone arena, vendors shipped 179.7 million units compared to last year's 123.7 million in the same quarter.

The Q3 smartphone list now features Samsung at the top, with 56.3 million units shipped, Apple second with 26.9 million, RIM with 7.7 million in third, and ZTE and HTC occupying fourth and fifth slots, shipping 7.5 million and 7.3 million respectively.

Nokia's dramatic exit from the smartphone list seems to be the inevitable result of the market gains made by Apple and Samsung.

Nokia does, however, remain second in the overall mobile phone vendors list, shipping 82.9 million units.

It's the company's lack of belief in its own Symbian platform, and decision to move to Windows Phone, that may have cost the company, according to IDC.

"The company's transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to ones shipped with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst at IDC.

"However, the smartphone market is still relatively nascent, which means there's room for multiple vendors and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia."

Nokia is taking a front line position in Microsoft's Windows 8 Phone launch devices lineup, the first of which go on sale today.