News

Global mobile handset shipments grew a healthy 14% year-on-year from 247m units in Q1/2007 to 282m units in Q1/2008, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics in its report ‘Q1 2008 Global Handset Market Share Update’. The growth rate is up from just 11% in Q1/2007 and 12.3% in Q4/2007.

“Emerging markets in Asia and Africa continue to surge, and they are compensating for the sluggish demand in developed regions of North America and Western Europe,” says analyst Bonny Joy.

“Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Apple suffered downturns,” adds Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawston. “Motorola and Sony Ericsson lost market share to rivals with stronger handset portfolios, such as LG and Samsung.” Motorola’s market share has slumped further from 12.4% in Q4/2007 to just 9.7% in Q1/2008 and Sony Ericsson’s has fallen from 9.4% to 7.9%, while Samsung’s has risen from 14.1% to 16.4% and LG’s from 7.2% to 8.6%.

Apple has been hit by stock-outs in North America and lackluster demand for its overpriced iPhone in Western Europe,” adds Mawston. The firm’s market share fell for the first time, from 0.7% in Q4/2007 to 0.6% in Q1/2008, as its shipments fell sharply, from 2.3m units to 1.7m.

Also, 2008 is shaping up to be the year of the Koreans, reckons Strategy Analytics. Improved handset portfolios enabled LG to grow at almost four times the annual industry average, while Samsung is growing over 2 times faster.

Mobile handset shipments and market share - top 5

Company	Shipments (millions of units)
	Q1/07	Q4/07	2007	Q1/08
Nokia	91.1	133.5	437.1	115.5
Samsung	34.8	46.3	161.1	46.3
Motorola	45.4	40.9	159.0	27.4
LG Electronics	15.8	23.7	80.5	24.4
Sony Ericsson	21.8	30.8	103.4	22.3
Others	38.3	53.9	181.5	46.4
Total	247.2	329.1	1122.6	282.3
Company	Global market share %
	Q1/07	Q4/07	2007	Q1/08
Nokia	36.9%	40.6%	38.9%	40.9%
Samsung	14.1%	14.1%	14.4%	16.4%
Motorola	18.4%	12.4%	14.2%	9.7%
LG Electronics	6.4%	7.2%	7.2%	8.6%
Sony Ericsson	8.8%	9.4%	9.2%	7.9%
Others	15.5%	16.4%	16.2%	16.4%
Total growth year-over-year	11.0%	12.3%	12.0%	14.2%

Chart credit: Strategy Analytics.

See related items:

Rich-media specialists increase share of handset profits

Mitsubishi Electric terminating mobile handset business

Handset shipments up in ‘07, but ‘08 forecast cut

Q3 cell-phone shipments of 285m led by Nokia in emerging entry-level GSM markets and Samsung in 3G

Global cell phone shipments show slight increase, as Samsung grabs second largest vendor title from Motorola

Handset sales to grow 4% through to 2012

Search: Handset shipments

Visit: www.strategyanalytics.com