IDC: Worldwide Converged Mobile Device Market Continues to Surge Ahead

According to IDC, "the worldwide converged mobile device or smartphone market showed no signs of slowing down during the first quarter of 2006, recording a new record in quarterly shipments. Worldwide converged mobile device shipments totaled 18.9 million units in Q1 2006, an increase of 7.5% from the fourth quarter of 2005 and 67.8% compared to the same quarter one year ago.

Ramon Llamas at IDC said, "In most mature markets, the first quarter of the new year is usually characterized by a sequential decrease in shipments. However, as a market with more growth on the way, the converged mobile device market was able to post sequential growth as well as a sizable year-over-year gain. The worldwide market has broadened in terms of the number of vendors who have entered into this space, and deepened as far as the kinds of devices coming out for consumers, enterprise users, and fans of multimedia. The lure of new products combined with heightened competition among the vendors, should continue to drive the smartphone market to new heights."

Ryan Reith, research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker. "Continuous upgrades to mobile operating systems have given device manufacturers more capable platforms upon which to create devices. For example, Nokia (NOK) set the bar by launching two new lines of devices for the converged market, the E-Series and the N-Series, aimed at two different end-user markets. These lines have plenty of room to grow and offer devices in the high, mid, and lower levels of the converged mobile device space, which should add pressure on other device manufacturers to follow suit in 2006."

Vendor Highlights include:

Nokia

• After reaching a record level during Q4 2005 with 9.3 million units shipped, Nokia experienced a 12.2% decrease in shipments following the holiday quarter. Despite this sequential decline, Nokia enjoyed 49.9% year-over-year growth in the first quarter of 2006, capturing 43.2% of the worldwide market. Nokia augmented its broad lineup of devices in the first quarter with the introduction of several new multimedia-centric N-Series devices as well as its E-Series targeted at enterprise users.

Panasonic

• Holding on to the number 2 spot was Japanese vendor Panasonic, which grew its shipments 28.3% from the previous quarter and an impressive 65.1% over the same quarter a year ago. As a result, Panasonic wrapped up 10.0% of the worldwide market share. The majority of Panasonic's devices ended up in Japan where all of the company's devices are carried by NTT DoCoMo. In addition, the company still has a presence in the Asia/Pacific market with its X700.

NEC

• Following closely behind Panasonic was Japanese vendor NEC, which trailed the number two vendor by just a hundred thousand units. The company continues to see quarterly gains in Japan and posted a 32.6% sequential increase in the first quarter along with 57.0% year-over-year growth. All of NEC's converged mobile devices remained within its home region of Japan.

Research In Motion (RIMM)

• The Canada-based vendor of enterprise-centric BlackBerries posted a new record shipment volume to kick off 2006, its fifth consecutive quarter of sequential growth. After shipping nearly 1.5 million units, Research In Motion posted sequential growth of 12.4% over 4Q05 and year-over-year growth of 85.7%. By the end of the quarter, Research In Motion had earned 7.7% worldwide market share.

Sharp

• A relative newcomer to the market, Sharp first joined the converged mobile device market in late 2005. The company followed up its debut by shipping over a million units in 1Q06 and posted a 174.4% sequential increase in the process. As a result, Sharp collected 5.7% worldwide market share. Like NEC, all of its devices were shipped into Japan.

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Converged Mobile Device Shipments and Market Share, Q1 2006 (Units shipments are in millions)

Rank	Vendor	1Q06 Shipments	1Q06 Market Share	1Q05 Shipments	1Q05 Market Share	1Q06/1Q05 Growth
1	Nokia	8.16	43.2%	5.45	48.4%	49.9%
2	Panasonic	1.89	10.0%	1.145	10.2%	65.1%
3	NEC	1.79	9.5%	1.140	10.1%	57.0%
4	Research in Motion	1.45	7.7%	0.78	6.9%	85.7%
5	Sharp	1.07	5.7%	0.00	0.0%	0.00%
	Others	4.52	23.9%	2.74	24.4%	64.7%
	Total	18.88	100.0%	11.25	100.0%	67.8%

Source: IDC, Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, June 7, 2006
Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.