US : Nokia has been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research. Research in Motion (RIM) and Samsung claimed the second and third spots in the company’s most recent evaluation of worldwide smartphone vendors.

Vice president and research director Stuart Carlaw comments, “Nokia’s commitment to drivin 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. Looking to the future, this segment will become increasingly crowded as Linux-based new entrants try to erode Nokia’s position.”

The Vendor Matrix is an analytical tool developed by ABI Research to provide a clear understanding of vendors’ positions in specific markets.

Vendors are assessed by ABI Research on the important 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, among others. 

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 operating system source code licenses. 

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

To view a list of the “top ten” firms in this Vendor Matrix, please visit Smart Phone Vendor Matrix. Registration on the ABI Research website (free) is required. Access to the rankings and profiles of all companies surveyed is available to clients of ABI Research.