Nokias performance in Q4 2017 may not be good news for Google, Sony and others

Finish company HMD Global, which manufactures Nokia-branded smartphones, seems to be giving tough competition to some of the accomplished players like HTC, Google, Sony, OnePlus and others in the global smartphone market. According to CounterPoint analyst Neil Shah, the company has garnered 1% marketshare in the global market and is just outside the top 10 biggest smartphone brands club.



The company, which celebrated its first anniversary in December 2107, is now at No. 11 position in the global smartphone ranking. HMD Global reportedly sold 4.4 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of the year 2017. The company has also become prominent player in the global featurephone market with 15 percent share, as per the research company.

The major growth markets for Nokia-branded smartphones include Vietnam, and most Middle East markets. In the featrure phone market, the company is doing especially well in the most European, Asian and Middle East markets as per Shah.
Terming HMD Global's (Nokia) performance as "one of the most successful comeback story for a brand after falling off the cliff", Shah wrote on Twitter, "Talking about smartphones performance, in Q4 2017, @HMDGlobal sold more Nokia branded phones globally and is now bigger smartphone brand than following individual brands..."

The brands listed by him include:

• HTC
• Sony
• Google
• Alcatel
• Lenovo
• OnePlus
• Gionee
• Meizu
• Coolpad
• Asus

The Nokia numbers, as claimed by Counter Point, are more than Google's annual sale of Pixel smartphones during the year 2017. As per IDC's Francisco Jeronimo, Google shipped 3.9 million Pixel and Pixel 2 devices during the year 2017. However, here though the numbers may look unimpressive, they show growth for Google. As the smaertphone sales for the company doubled during the year.

As for Nokia, the company seems to have big plans for the year 2018. The company is expected to launch new devices at the upcoming smartphone industyry tradeshow, Mobile World Congress 2018. Juho Sarvikas, CPO, HMD Global of Nokia phones teased an "awesome" MWC 2018 for Nokia fans. He, however, didn't reavel much details about what the company has in its armour.