Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Faces Tough Competition Here

Nokia recently unveiled its new Asha 501 phone at a launch event in India. With similar ambitions as Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) seeks to retain its market leadership in select markets such as India, where the company faces growing competition from Samsung and Indian handset manufacturers Lava, Micromax, and Karbonn. Nokia leads mobile phone sales in India with 21.8% market share, followed by Samsung and Micromax with 11.5% and 6.5% shares, respectively. The Nokia Asha 501 is priced at $99 and will hit retail stores in June.

The largest threat to Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) and Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) in the low and high-end pricing segment are devices running on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)‘s Android operating system — most notably Samsung’s line Galaxy phones. Figures released by market research firm International Data Corp. show that Android captured 75% market share with 162.1 million smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2013, up 45% from a year ago. Samsung owns 41.1% share of Android shipments, while other vendors trail behind in single-digits and less. With the new HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 handsets, Android’s dominance should continue.

Apple’s iOS accounted for 17.3% market share with 37.4 million smartphone shipments followed by Windows Phone at 3.2% (7 million shipments) and BlackBerry’s OS at 2.9% (6.3 million shipments).

Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) accounted for 79% of all Windows Phone shipments during the quarter and shipped a total of 20.3 million smartphones across multiple market segments.

Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) shipped more than 1 million BlackBerry Z10 devices running on the company’s new BlackBerry 10 platform, which released in January. With the BlackBerry Q10 on sale, shipments are expected to increase in volume for the next quarter.

In summary, the emerging markets present a lucrative opportunity for BlackBerry to offer higher quality handsets at low prices. However, the market is full of competing manufacturers. If Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) announces a competitive price, the BlackBerry Q5 may provide the company the desired growth needed to remain relevant in select markets.

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