Global Q1 2012 mobile phone sales decline by 2% Y-o-Y to total 419.1m units, Gartner reports-- the first decline for the mobile market since Q2 2009. 

While all vendors feel the drop, white box vendors suffer the most due to being unable to adjust production, ending up with inventory build-up by the end of the quarter. 

“The lower results in the first quarter of 2012 have led us to be cautious about sales for the remainder of the year,” Gartner says. New Android- and Windows Phone-based devicese and the inevitable iPhone refresh should boost H2 2012 sales in mature markets like W. Europe-- but Gartner still adjusts 2012 sales predictions downwards to the 20m units range. 

Smartphones remain the mobile market driver, with sales reaching 144.4m units and 44.7% Y-o-Y growth. 

Nokia loses the top WW mobile handset vendor position (the first time since 1998) to Samsung, who now has 20.7% global market share. Samsung is also top smartphone vendor (beating Apple with sales reaching 38m units) and top Android market share holder (40%). 

Android accounts for 56.1% of Q1 2012 smartphone sales. Gartner remarks the smartphone market is becoming increasingly commoditised, with the result of differentiation becoming harder for vendors. Price is the main (if not only) differentiator, particularly within the mid- to low-end market segments. 

Go Gartner Mobile Market Q1 2012 Report

According to Canalys European tablet adoption is lagging behind other territories, as EMEA shipments reach 4.7m units in Q1 2012 with 180% Y-o-Y growth.

In comparison global Q1 2012 tablet shipments triple from Q1 2011, reaching 20.3m units.

"The challenging economic conditions in Europe are affecting the market," Canalys says in explanation of the EMEA totals, echoing concerns from other analysts.

Content availability is also a problem-- the combination of different languages and digital rights regulations makes the consistent localisation of content across Europe complicated and costly.

According to the analyst, the territories presenting vendors with most growth opportunities are within Asia Pacific, particularly China (currently 2nd biggest tablet market following the US).

Apple continues dominating the market, with 58% Q1 2012 market share (down from 74% in Q1 2011). Following are Amazon with 10% share (even if all Kindle Fire shipments are in N. America), Samsung and Asus.

Go European Tablet Adoption Lags Behind Other Regions (Canalys)

According to Gartner 2012 WW tablet sales will grow by 98% Y-o-Y to total 118.9m, as the Apple iPad continues dominating the market.

In comparison 2011 tablet sales total 20m units.

The analyst projects iPad global market share will reach 61.4% in 2012-- with non-Apple vendors finding limited success in the market, despite the international Amazon Kindle Fire launch.

Making things worse for the competition is Apple resetting "the benchmark for the product to beat" with the new iPad.

What are non-Apple vendors to do? Gartner believes many are waiting for the Windows 8 release with hopes the Microsoft brand will help capture both consumer and enterprise markets-- estimating Microsoft tablets will account for 4.1% of 2012 tablet sales, before growing to 11.8% by 2016.

Meanwhile Android tablets will account for 31.9% of 2012 tablet sales, even if device sales are still hampered due to the lack of dedicated Android tablet apps.

Windows tablets are particularly attractive for enterprise markets-- both IT departments and suppliers are familiar with the OS. Gartner predicts enterprise markets will account for around 35% tablet sales in 2015, even if many workplaces will also operate BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies.

Go Gartner Tablet Forecast 2010-2016

Do organisations know what mobile devices employees are connecting to enterprise networks with? According to a SANS Institute survey, the answer seems to be... no.

The analyst reports only 9% of survey-participant organisations are "fully aware" of the devices accessing their networks, while 50% are "vaguely or fairly" aware.

According to SANS Institute, over 60% of organisations allow employees to take devices to work.

The survey involves 500 IT professionals, and reveals a potential business opertunity-- endpoint security tools, which only 20% of organisations are using. From those, more use agent-based (rather than agent-less) tools.

Gartner reports say enterprises are aware of only 80% of devices accessing their networks-- the remaining 20% being unsecured (and possibly jailbroken) mobile devices threatening to introduce malware to network resources.

Go SANS Annual Mobile Security Survey