The worldwide market for mobile phones is outstripping
even the most enthusiastic predictions from the beginning of the
year, according to research released by Gartner.
in the third quarter of this year more than 132.8 million units
were sold, up 22% from last year's third-quarter shipments of 108.8
million units, said Gartner analyst Ben Wood. The figures
were calculated the figures using the number of units sold to end
users, rather than units shipped into the channel.
"The total market is on fire," he said. "We had predicted about
470 million units for the year, but it's going to be about 500
million," he added.
Mature mobile phone markets such as western Europe and the US
are going through a replacement cycle as consumers with older
black-and-white phones are trading them in for new models with
colour screens and cameras. "We're getting to a point where a
mobile phone is as much about fashion as anything," said Wood.
Emerging markets, such as China and India, are also growing
faster than expected with millions of new subscribers purchasing
their first mobile phones.
Nokia lost a little market share in the quarter, but still
commands the worldwide market with sales of 45.4 million units in
the third quarter, good for 34.2% market share. Unit sales
increased from the 38.6 million units sold in the third quarter of
last year, but not as fast as the overall market.
Motorola sold 19.5 million units in the third quarter to rank in
second place worldwide with 14.7% market share. The company also
sold more units compared with last year, but lost a percentage
point of market share.
Samsung picked up market share at the expense of Nokia and
Motorola, selling 14.8 million units in the quarter and increasing
its market share from 10.5% in last year's third quarter to 11.2%
in this year's third quarter.
Siemens, in fourth place, picked up market share with its sales
of 12.1 million units in the quarter, up from last year's
third-quarter market share of 7.4% to this year's third-quarter
market share of 9.1%.
For some companies, demand is outpacing their ability to keep
their customers supplied. Motorola is working with additional
suppliers to find components for its newest camera phones, which
have been in short supply because of sourcing problems.
Tom Krazit writes for IDG News
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