Worldwide sales of mobile phones reached 96.7 million units in the
first quarter of 2001, and the cellular phone market remains on
track to reach 500 million units sold by the end of 2001, according
to a new study.
Nokia led the way with its market share exceeding 35% for the first
quarter compared to 27.9% for the same time last year, according to
the study by Dataquest, a subsidiary of research group Gartner.
Motorola was second with a 13.2% market share followed by Siemens
at 6.9%, Ericsson with 6.8%, and Samsung at 6.3%.
Despite the first quarter's seemingly healthy returns, Dataquest
warns of a tough mobile phone market this year. The market for new
wireless subscribers is decreasing and the replacement market is
becoming the largest segment of annual sales, said Dataquest
analyst Bryan Prohm.
There also is a glut of mobile phones in the supply channel from
the fourth quarter of 2000, Dataquest said. As many as 30 million
to 35 million units are in distribution channels, resulting in
numerous leading OEMs selling more handsets to end users than
actually shipping to distribution channels, Prohm said.