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Most popular phones - what were the best selling phones of 2009?
In what was a phenomenal year for the smartphone, 2009 saw the most popular selling mobile phones Top 10 take on an unsurprising line up. Dominated by 3 brands it gives a firm indication of the fight Google will face with it's Nexus One.
It was also the year that Apple knocked the Blackberry off it's top spot as the communications device of choice for many business users. RIM look set for a difficult time in months ahead and need to come up with something special to stop Apple strengthening it's position in the market.
The Apple iPhone cemented it's widely recognised position as the best mobile phone in the world in 2009. Its combination of sleek design, astonishing functionality through it's multi-touch screen, intuitive controls, excellent gaming platform and staggering array of applications put it to the head of the sales list - by a good margin.
Being knocked of it's perch can't have been a particularly pleasant experience for RIM but the 8300 Series is still an outstanding communications device. With a superior battery life to the iPhone and 'proper' key feel it remains incredibly popular with many users. It still gives a superb all round package despite the lack of standard 3G or Wi-Fi connectivity.
An innovative and extremely compact design sees the RAZR as sales worthy as ever. It's still a phone whose design gets looks but it now looks dated in its feature set. Call volume is criticised as too low by some but the phone does offer good bluetooth connectivity and pricing plans from many operators make it a very attractive purchase.
A slim good looking phone with a very usable keyboard, the VX-9100 also benefits from an excellent display, full QWERTY keyboard and good multimedia feature set. The external facing display is on the small side and the latest version didn't offer much improvement on it's predecessor. It's still a brilliant little phone.
Another very impressive phone from LG with one of the best keyboards on the market and a good touch screen. With built in GPS and a thoroughly capable web browser it has lasted the test of time. Many consider it a much better phone than the better selling 9100 series and it's difficult to disagree with them.
The phone known as the Rant has a firm fan base because of a compact design and it's sheer value for money with a good set of features. It has a solid e-mail application but browsing isn't something you'd enjoy too often - with a clunky and slow interface. It's never going to an iPhone or Blackberry threat but it does what it says on the tin and at an excellent price.
The Blackberry Storm has been a collosal seller for RIM and it still flies out of stores. The interface is a love it or hate it one, as is the screen 'click' and the zooming on screen is nowhere near as intuitive as on the iPhone. It's still high on most peoples list though with a good looking design, few flaws all round and for e-mail functionality it is nigh on impossible to beat.
Know as the LG Dare, this phone has one of the better 3.2 mp cameras, full browser functionality, an excellent touch screen system and comes with LG's love-or-hate handwriting system. There isn't a lot to complain about on the Dare because it's also very nicely weighted and sized, looks the part and has an excellent reliabiity rate. It's a winner and continued sales show it.
Incredibly attractive, 3 inch display, HSDPA speed and a reasonable camera have made the Vu a contender in any field. Launched in 2008 it's starting to show it's age but sales remain strong due to bargain pricing plans and the fact if you want a phone for everything - the Vu just about does it. It'll probably slip out of the Top 10 in 2010 but it has had a meritable stay.
For those to whom email is the top priority but they don't like the size of other Blackberries or the iPhone, the 8100 is the perfect choice. It has slipped to the end of the top sellers list (though its inclusion is an achievement nonetheless) due to a lesser set of functions and often fiddly operating. It's not a phone for people with chunky fingers. You'll see a lot of them on the streets though - because pricing is amongst the best of the Blackberries now.
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Missing something?
Where are Nokia? They must be amongst the best selling phones of 2009 somewhere, surely?
The answer is a resounding no.
However, you can be sure they'll be there in 2010 with the N900 ony just missing out on this list and getting ready to make a very deep impact in the list.
In other lists you might find Nokia, but they're not based on pure sales and tend to factor in user reviews, industry thoughts and aftersales praise or feedback - but the fact is they don't have a phone in the Top 10 from 2009.
HTC
HTC are another popular manufacturer missing from the list but you can be sure they'll pick up plenty of money from their involvement in the production of the Google Nexus One.
The rest
The Palm Pre and Sony Ericsson Satio may well feature in the next list but the market has never been more competitive. Wi Fi is a must now, that much is obvious. Quad band and e-mail functionality (through a good application) has become the norm and anything that is to make a dent in the list will almost certainly pack everything of 2009's smartphones in and a little more to boot.
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