Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty told clients that Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5 will begin production in mid to late August and ramp aggressively into the calendar fourth quarter. With the somewhat "delayed" iPhone 5 arriving only in September, Apple should see a slight dip in smartphone sales in the third quarter.

Nonetheless, due to strong sales of the iPhone 4, Apple has now emerged as the top smartphone vendor in Australia.

Despite a 5% year-on-year dip in the overall market, iPhone shipments soared 13% quarter-on-quarter, with Apple becoming the top mobile device vendor in Australia for the first time, with nearly one third market share, Research firm International Data Corp.'s Q1 2011 Mobile Device Tracker revealed.

"Nokia suffered a double whammy, the feature phone market collapsed, with 79% of new mobiles shipped now being smartphones. Meanwhile, Symbian took a huge tumble, as consumers shy away from the platform ahead of Nokia's transition to Windows Phone," said Mark Novosel, Telecommunications Analyst, at IDC.

"Symbian lost 9.5% market share Q/Q, more than double IDC's forecast decline. We expected Symbian to decline steadily throughout 2011, however the pace of decline has exceeded all expectations, with the majority of would-be Symbian buyers heading to Apple," added Novosel.

In the smartphone market, Apple now holds close to 40% market share, up almost 10% Q/Q. Android, in second place, holds nearly 30% of the market, and Symbian has plunged to third with 22% of the smartphone market.

"Android remains on track to become the most popular smartphone OS in Australia this year, although Apple is doing its best to delay Android from reaching this milestone. The weakness in Symbian and slow initial growth of Windows Phone are providing a stimulus for iOS and Android, which will battle head to head for the top spot in 2011," said Novosel.

Apple is likely to experience a dip in Q3 as the market eases in preparation for an expected new iPhone model in Q4, meanwhile the wide range of Android flagships that will launch in Q2 and Q3 should see strong growth. In Q4, Android flagships will see price cuts to lure Christmas shoppers and enable them to better compete with the expected new iPhone.

"2011 will be an increasingly difficult year for Nokia, as consumers side-step Symbian smartphones and feature phone popularity continues to dwindle. Microsoft will also face a tough year with slow Windows Phone 7 growth expected, as the iOS and Android tussle intensifies. As Nokia launches its first Windows Phone models in early 2012, and Symbian shipments eventually stop, Microsoft should start to see an uplift," concluded Novosel.