Nokia tops ABI smart phone vendor matrix

In ABI Research Corp.'s latest smart phone vendor matrix, Nokia claimed the top spot, followed by Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

"Nokia's commitment to driving smart OS into a wider range of devices, and the success of its N series devices, especially the N95, gives it a huge market presence," said Stuart Carlaw, ABI VP and research director. "Looking to the future, this segment will become increasingly crowded as Linux-based new entrants try to erode Nokia's position."

In the matrix
The matrix designed by ABI Research assesses vendors on the parameters of "innovation" and "implementation" across several criteria unique to each vendor matrix, such as customer wins, contract awards, global reach, market share, patents, R&D spending, time to market and first movers.

For this particular matrix, under "innovation," ABI Research examined user interface customization, handset differentiation, patent portfolio, battery life, handset size, support for third-party application developers, the presence of a common and concise API, and OS source code licenses.

Under "implementation," ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria: smart phone shipments, brand equity, the number of smart phone models in the range, choice of OS, the company's first-to-market status, its smart phone market share, its smart phone average selling prices (ASP), its distribution network, operator relationships, manufacturing facilities, ODM partnerships, overall handset ASP and overall handset market share.