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Worldwide mobile phone sales totaled
251 million units in the third quarter of 2006, a 21.5 percent
increase from the same period last year, according to Gartner Inc.
Third quarter sales in Asia/Pacific, especially India and China,
rose dramatically and drove overall growth upwards. Asia/Pacific was
the fastest growing region this quarter.

As a result of the strong quarter, Gartner raised its mobile phone
sales forecast to reach 986 million units in 2006, with 281 million
units in the fourth quarter of 2006.

“Although sales of replacement handsets during the third quarter, in
the more mature markets were not as buoyant as we have been accustomed
to they were offset by continuing momentum in sales to first-time
buyers in emerging markets,” said Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst
for mobile terminals research at Gartner, based in Egham. “We have
also started to see increasing sales of replacement models in some
emerging market, which helped push up total sales in the third
quarter.”

Ms Milanesi added, “In a market where players compete on price,
technology and strategic partnerships, it is impossible to believe
that life is not getting much tougher for the smaller vendors. Nokia,
Motorola and Samsung accounted for 68 percent of worldwide mobile
sales in the third quarter of 2006.”

Nokia retained its worldwide No. 1 position with 35.1 percent market
share; gaining 2.6 percentage points compared to the same period last
year (see Table 1). Nokia increased its market share in all regions
expect North America, and also regained the top spot in Latin America
after losing it to Motorola a year ago.

While Motorola increased its worldwide market share in the third
quarter of 2006, the company experienced challenges in some regions.
It lost the No. 1 spot in Latin American and its No. 2 position in
Western Europe and in the Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa
region. The Krzr is struggling to enjoy the same reception that
greeted the Razr, and the Motofone may not be available until 2007.
Christmas might not be so jolly for Motorola in some markets.

After a shaky first half of the year, Samsung recorded a healthy third
quarter with sales accounting for more than 30 million units. Thanks
to products such as the D900 and E900, Samsung was able to regain
second place in the markets in Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, the
Middle East and Africa. “Samsung has won consumers back thanks to
finding a more personal approach to design and features and by
embracing the trend for slim devices,” Ms Milanesi said.

“Sony Ericsson had an exceptional quarter selling 19.4 million units
in the third quarter of 2006 and gaining one percentage point year-on-
year,” Ms Milanesi added. “The company’s success was a result of
building a wider portfolio of successful products rather than counting
on a single product. It also focused on better planning to avoid the
supply problems that have limited its potential in the past.”

The success of LG’s KG800 Chocolate started to melt away this quarter,
leaving the manufacturer further behind Sony Ericsson in the worldwide
ranking. LG needs to expand its portfolio quickly to move up from
fifth place.

BenQ declared that it was stopping payments to its German subsidiary,
BenQ Mobile, at the end of September 2006, barely a year after its
formation from Siemens' handset business. BenQ Mobile in Germany has
filed for insolvency. In the three months before, it recorded sales
of slightly more than 6 million units. www.gartner.com




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Posted: 2006-11-22 15:27:21
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