NPD Group: U.S. Mobile Phone Sales Reached $2.3 Billion in First Quarter 2006

According to The NPD Group, "mobile phone sales to consumers in the U.S. reached 34.8 million units in the first quarter of 2006. This number represents an increase of more than 11 percent compared to sales during the same period in 2005. NPD estimates total first quarter 2006 consumer sales of nearly $2.3 billion."

Neil Strother at The NPD Group said, “Surprisingly, the U.S. handset market continued its strong surge in the first quarter. Normally, there is a seasonal drop in the first quarter after the holiday rush; however, these numbers reflect a very healthy market, and we’re seeing strong demand for replacement models and from new subscribers.”

NPD’s data revealed that "Motorola continued its leadership in the U.S. market during the first quarter, boosting its share sequentially from 27 percent to 29 percent as it continued to ride the success of its popular RAZR models. Nokia and Samsung followed with18 percent with LG at 15 percent.

Following is the breakdown of top 10 manufacturers’ first quarter 2006 market shares:
Motorola	29%
Nokia	18%
Samsung	18%
LG	15%
Kyocera	4%
Sanyo	3%
Sony Ericsson	3%
UTStarcom (Audiovox)	2%
RIM	>1%
Palm	>1%

For the GSM market, "Motorola led the pack with a 39 percent share of the market, followed by Nokia with 24 percent and Samsung with 16 percent. During the first quarter, LG was the leader in CDMA handsets with a 31 percent market share, Samsung reached 20 percent and Motorola in third place at 13 percent."

NPD also found that the sale of Bluetooth-enabled devices rose "dramatically from 9 percent in the second quarter of 2005 to 18 percent in the first quarter of this year."