Europe gets more smartphones

More smartphones were shipped in Western Europe in the second quarter than the more basic "feature phones" for the first time, especially driven by the growing popularity of the iPhone and Android handsets.

Smartphone shipments rose almost 50 per cent over the second quarter in 2010 to 21.8 million devices.

Feature-phone shipments fell 29 per cent to 20.4 million, according to research by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Francisco Jeronimo, at IDC, said Android-powered handsets from firms including Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson "have been able to drive strong volumes and to grab the biggest slice of share" from the decline of Nokia's operating system, Symbian.

The beleaguered Finnish mobile group is now moving its smartphones over to Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.

The shipment of Android phones soared 352 per cent to 10.5 million units, almost half of all the total smartphones shipped, with Samsung the most popular.

The move away by customers from feature phones has gained pace as mobile operators have stopped subsidising the handsets.