Apple won't be the big 2012 growth winner, despite iPhone 5, neither will Android

The numbers from Digitimes compare year-on-year shipments, and BlackBerry and Symbian are continuing their freefalls. Symbian shipments have dropped nearly 66% over last year, and BlackBerry saw a decline of 41%. There really isn't any hope for Symbian, but for RIM, BlackBerry 10 can't come fast enough if the carrier excitement is to be believed. 

Android's growth rate is understandably slowing from 2010, when it's year-on-year growth rate was a mind-boggling 679%, but it is still by far the largest of all, and could end up being 70% of all smartphone shipments. This year, Android is looking at just under a 90% increase, which would mean somewhere around 425 million units shipped compared to 224 million in 2011. 

Apple is expected to increase shipments by just 35%, but given the volume of iPhone shipments, that will still add up to 125 million units in 2012. The big surprise is that Windows Phone will have the biggest growth rate by more than doubling its shipments this year (up 108%). Of course, that only adds up to 21 million units, because WP has such a small share, but the growth rate is impressive. 

source: Digitimes