News

9 November 2010

 

Handset shipments reach 327m in Q3

Global handset shipments grew to 327 million units in third-quarter 2010, up 13% year-on-year from 291 million in Q3/2009 (compared with 16% year-on-year growth in the first six months of 2010), according to the latest report from Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Device Strategies (WSS) service.

Apple was a star performer, jumping into the top five handset rankings for the first time as it captured a record market share of 4%, overtook Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) and Sony Ericsson, and closed the gap on third-placed LG, says senior analyst Alex Spektor.

“It was a mixed quarter for the world's major handset vendors,” comments Strategy Analytics’ director Neil Mawston. “Some brands outperformed, such as Apple, while others underperformed, such as LG and Nokia,” he adds. “LG lost ground due to a weak smartphone portfolio, while Nokia suffered component shortages that constrained its low-end handset volumes by an estimated several million units.”

Samsung’s worldwide handsets shipments rose a slightly above-average 19% from 60.2 million a year ago to 71.4 million in Q3. Its market share reached 22% as it continues to edge ahead of LG (9%), and is just 12 points behind Nokia (34%), the closest it has ever been.

There is a long tail of second-tier players emerging who are knocking on the doors of the top five players, says Strategy Analytics. In particular, ZTE, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Huawei and Alcatel are all shipping volumes that are within touching distance of the leading group, adds the market research firm.

Global handset vendor shipments and market share in Q3/2010
Shipments (millions)	Q3/09	Q2/10	Q3/10
Nokia	108.5	111.1	110.4
Samsung	60.2	63.8	71.4
LG	31.6	30.6	28.4
Apple	7.4	8.4	14.1
RIM	8.5	11.2	12.4
Others	74.4	85.4	90.3
Total	290.6	310.5	327.0
Market share %	Q3/09	Q2/10	Q3/10
Nokia	37.3%	35.8%	33.8%
Samsung	20.7%	20.5%	21.8%
LG	10.9%	9.9%	8.7%
Apple	2.5%	2.7%	4.3%
RIM	2.9%	3.6%	3.8%
Others	25.6%	27.5%	27.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Total growth year-on-year	–4.3%	13.7%	12.5%

See related items:

Asia-Pacific helping push global handset shipments to 1.34bn in 2010

Handset market grows to 346.2m in Q3, while Samsung gains market share

Mobile handset shipments to reach 1.43bn in 2011

Global handset shipments exceed 321 million in Q2/2010

Search: Mobile handset shipments

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