The fourth quarter of 2009 saw annual smartphone shipments from all phone makers reach a record 53 million units. That’s 30% growth year-over-year, and projections for the first quarter of 2010 are for another 8% rise over the previous quarter.

The leading maker of smartphones, according to Strategy Analytics, is Nokia (NOK), which shipped nearly 21 million smartphones in the fourth quarter. Research In Motion (RIMM) shipped 10.7 million units, while Apple (AAPL) pushed out 8.7 million.

Nokia cornered 39% of the market for smartphones in 2009, while Sony Ericsson grabbed nearly 20% and Apple picked up just over 14%. The rest of the phone makers, including Motorola (MOT), held on to the remaining 27%.

Year-over-year, Nokia’s share of the market dropped by 1%, Sony Ericsson’s share grew by 4.3% and Apple’s share grew by 5.3%. So, even though Nokia still leads, its leading competitors are growing faster.

Nokia’s answer is to lower prices on some models, which will make the smartphones more competitive with the phones offered by Samsung, the world’s leading maker of mobile phones. Samsung sold 68.8 million phones in 2009.

Samsung’s phones, as well as most of the Sony Ericsson phones, offer more and better phone features than some of the smartphones, but they lack the connectivity features of the Nokia, RIM, and Apple smartphones. As Nokia cuts its prices, bringing the smartphones more into line with Samsung’s phones, the Finnish company is betting that consumers will continue to demand the functionality of its smartphones.

In the smartphone market, though, Nokia rules, with about twice the market share as its leading competitor. RIM has locked up a substantial piece of the business market, and Apple has the glitterati share, but Nokia has found its smartphone success among the general public who are looking for low-priced value. And that’s what Nokia has delivered and plans to continue to deliver.

If Nokia is successful in pushing its smartphones into the cell phone market-dominated Samsung, it could see even better growth in 2010 than it saw in 2009. That doesn’t leave much room for its competitors, particularly Apple, which has been pushing the iPhone in the business market, but still prices the phone too high for many consumers.

Apple wants to avoid a price war. But unless it gets a substantial bump in sales when its current contract with AT&T (T) ends, Apple will either be forced to cut prices or be satisfied with being a niche player.

Nokia wants to take advantage of its leading position to commodify the smartphone market. Neither RIM nor Apple can really stop that from happening. For now, Nokia is in the driver’s seat.

Tell us what you think here.

Related Articles:

• Palm and RIM Face a Surging Apple
• Research Shows Verizon Dominating AT&T
• If Microsoft Gets Well Will the PC Hardware Industry Follow?