Gartner: Top six vendors drive world-wide mobile phone sales to 21 per cent growth in 2005

domain-B reports that according to new research from Gartner, "World-wide mobile phone sales totalled 816.6 million units in 2005, a 21 per cent increase from 2004, as the leading six vendors increased their share of the market at the detriment of smaller vendors. The top six vendors accounted for 79.4 per cent of world-wide mobile phone sales in 2005. These leaders experienced a steady increase in market share throughout the year, as their market share increased from 78 per cent in the first quarter to 84 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005."

Carolina Milanesi at Gartner said, "As competition continues to drive price pressure in the low-end, and a design and technology 'arms race' in the high-end, the survival of the fittest depends more and more on economies of scales, or very carefully cut out niche markets. The industry experienced record sales due to continued strong growth in emerging markets, where falling prices for cellular connectivity (phones and subscriptions) resulted in higher-than-expected sales. In more mature markets, such as Western Europe and North America, replacement sales were driven by users that gave into the charm of highly fashionable devices."

World-wide mobile terminal sales to end-users in 4Q05 (thousands of units)

Company	4Q05 Sales	4Q05 Market Share (%)	4Q04 Sales	4Q04 Market Share (%)
Nokia	82,218.3	35.0	64,387.3	33.0
Motorola	41,884.0	17.8	31,744.3	16.3
Samsung	28,385.4	12.1	23,883.7	12.2
LG	16,875.0	7.2	13,340.5	6.8
Sony Ericsson	16,118.7	6.9	12,335.8	6.3
BenQMobile	11,101.7	4.7	12,821.0	6.5
Others	38,546.6	16.3	36,807.9	18.9
TOTAL	235,129.7	100.0	195,320.5	100.

Note: This table includes integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN) terminals. It excludes original design manufacturers to original equipment manufacturer shipments and .Code Division Multiple Access Wireless Local Loop (CDMA WLL)
Source: Gartner Dataquest (February 20060

Remarking on Nokia's market leadership, Milanesi said, "To illustrate Nokia's performance, more than one third of the world's phone users bought a Nokia phone in the fourth quarter of 2005."

Table 2
World-wide mobile terminal sales to end-users in 2005 (thousands of units)

Company	2005 Sales	2005 Market Share (%)	2004 Sales	2004 Market Share (%)
Nokia	265,614.8	32.5	207,231.3	30.7
Motorola	144,920.4	17.7	104,124.2	15.4
Samsung	103,753.6	12.7	85,238.4	12.6
LG	54,924.6	6.7	42,276.8	6.3
Sony Ericsson	51,773.8	6.3	42,031.7	6.2
Siemens	28,590.6	3.5	48,455.8	7.2
Others	166,985.1	20.6	144,643.7	21.6
TOTAL	816,562.9	100.0	674,001.9	100.0

Note* This table includes integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN) terminals. It excludes original design manufacturers to original equipment manufacturer shipments and .Code Division Multiple Access Wireless Local Loop (CDMA WLL)

Gartner also took a look at the market in each region:

• In Western Europe, sales of mobile phones totaled 49.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2005 and 164 million units in 2005. Milanesi said, "The trend in the fourth quarter was all about fashion, with phones such as the Motorola pink razr v3 and the Siemens CL75 Poppy capturing consumers' interest. In countries such as the UK, people were even prepared to subscribe to a new contract before their existing contract ended in order to acquire the pink razr phone."
• The same trend of upgrading to trendier phones occurred in the more mature markets in Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), as first time subscribers continued to join networks and mobile phone sales for the year reached 153.5 million units.
• In North America, the fourth quarter was a record quarter with mobile phone sales reaching 41.3 million units. In 2005, sales reached 148.4 million units. Hugues De La Vergne at Gartner said, "Consumers continued to upgrade their phones with camera devices and unique form factors such as the Motorola razr V3. The region also experienced strong growth in the prepaid phone segment."
• Sales of mobile phones in Latin America reached nearly 102 million units in 2005, a 40 per cent increase from 2004. Tuong Nguyen at Gartner said, "However, the explosive growth experienced over the past few quarters is slowing. We expect year on year growth in the region in 2006 to be in the high single-digits."
• In Asia / Pacific, mobile phone sales reached 56.4-million units in the fourth quarter of 2005 and 204 million units in 2005. Sales in the region were fuelled by key markets such as China and India. Ann Liang at Gartner said, "In China, sales were driven by strong growth in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), while in India, subscriber additions in November and December exceeded all previous performances."
• Mobile phone sales in Japan totalled 11.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2005, and totalled 45 million units for the year. Music player functionality fuelled replacement sales especially by young users.

Commenting on the prospects for the first quarter of 2006, Milanesi said, "Chinese New Year, prolonged Christmas and New Year sales promotions in Western Europe and North America, as well as continued growth in emerging markets, will all contribute to strong sales in the first quarter of 2006. Based on preliminarydata for the first two months we expect to see a similar trend as in the first quarter of 2005 with a drop over the previous quarter in the region of five to eight percent."